As a straight primate ruminating on the events happening around the country, it seems that all I read from the daily are nothing but bad news. There’s the heated feud between the pro and against RH-Bill; there’s the controversial allegation on bishops receiving luxurious presents from PCSO, which in the end have urged the CBCP to apologize before the faithful; and there’s even an anti- Azkals group trying to pull down the group not because of the rape case linked with them but because they caused traffic along Rizal Stadium for motorist. All of these are kind of news dominating the front pages. And whether you accept it or not, these are what make the sales boost up for newspapers.
Bad news makes money: Seems like a good catchy phrase. Definitely it makes a lot of sense. News isn’t news when it is not bad and it won’t even raise a penny when it is not controversial. That is the reason why press keep on spawning on them in a deceptive form as public service, which in actual nature is merely about making money.
Some may argue that Philippines is already a torn country to deserve an endless bad news from the press which is why we need to fill in the pages with good constructive news to give readers inspiration to love our country instead of loathing it. While that may be true in one point, it actually negates the other half of the truth. Whether you like it or not, primates like us need bad news as well. Having a world of two faces, we need to open our minds to weigh our judgments before we jump into a conclusion that bad news is naturally bad.
Not at all. It is not true that good news alone creates inspiration. In fact, some of the nicest ideas sprout from the sheer acknowledgment of the filth our nations have. Rizal may have not produced his magnum opus had it not because of the plight of the Filipinos under the Spanish rule; Marx may have not muster his idea on communism had he not been witnessed to the tension between classes; and Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa may have not changed the world without the need to change it.
That’s right, we need bad news to move on. We cannot make use of our creativity unless there is a challenge that lies ahead of us. We cannot find solution unless there is a problem that awaits us. Bad news helps us realize something beyond our comfort zones, to make use of our given talent to create an impact in the best way we can. Unless we acknowledge bad news as something that needs our attention, then we can always be primates waiting for a perfect world to dawn on us. It’s true that pure bad news could be very destructive at times. But unless we change our mentality towards it, then perhaps we can always assume that our country will never get out from the abyss to which it is trapped. I guess until we become answers to these bad news, only then will we truly deserve to read good news.
And oh, never mind about the press for by way of practicality they have served their purpose well and it is just right that they are compensated.
Bad news makes money: Seems like a good catchy phrase. Definitely it makes a lot of sense. News isn’t news when it is not bad and it won’t even raise a penny when it is not controversial. That is the reason why press keep on spawning on them in a deceptive form as public service, which in actual nature is merely about making money.
Some may argue that Philippines is already a torn country to deserve an endless bad news from the press which is why we need to fill in the pages with good constructive news to give readers inspiration to love our country instead of loathing it. While that may be true in one point, it actually negates the other half of the truth. Whether you like it or not, primates like us need bad news as well. Having a world of two faces, we need to open our minds to weigh our judgments before we jump into a conclusion that bad news is naturally bad.
Not at all. It is not true that good news alone creates inspiration. In fact, some of the nicest ideas sprout from the sheer acknowledgment of the filth our nations have. Rizal may have not produced his magnum opus had it not because of the plight of the Filipinos under the Spanish rule; Marx may have not muster his idea on communism had he not been witnessed to the tension between classes; and Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa may have not changed the world without the need to change it.
That’s right, we need bad news to move on. We cannot make use of our creativity unless there is a challenge that lies ahead of us. We cannot find solution unless there is a problem that awaits us. Bad news helps us realize something beyond our comfort zones, to make use of our given talent to create an impact in the best way we can. Unless we acknowledge bad news as something that needs our attention, then we can always be primates waiting for a perfect world to dawn on us. It’s true that pure bad news could be very destructive at times. But unless we change our mentality towards it, then perhaps we can always assume that our country will never get out from the abyss to which it is trapped. I guess until we become answers to these bad news, only then will we truly deserve to read good news.
And oh, never mind about the press for by way of practicality they have served their purpose well and it is just right that they are compensated.
when reading news with my students, i always search for good news from BBC. Most of the times, it's the personal request from the students themselves. They want to feel good at least for 30 minutes from the stress at work...
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