Where has all the good news gone?

Our media today is clearly driven by what the people ask for. As such, much of the news has become either sensational or simply meaningless. Take the current "Most Popular" 10 stories from CNN (updated every 20 minutes). Perhaps the interest in the stories of guide horses and miraculously surviving ducks offer some comfort in our otherwise troubled times. The violence in the world in the form of wars and bombings is on the list, but only 20%. Violence on an individual level, reflected in the personal tragedy of an elderly man in California who was attacked by a mountain lion, seems to be a more popular distraction. Of course, entertainment tops the stories as well, in Big Brother, Little Miss Sunshine, and even a royal visit. I think the popularity of the lives of celebrities is driven by a need for people to escape from their lives and vicariously live a glamorous life (I will not even start on shows like Cribs and most of what is on E! which feeds this need).

1. Mountain lion victim worsens
2. Uncle Sam spoils dream space trip
3. Indian actress wins 'Big Brother'
4. Plot aimed to kill Shiite clerics
5. Tiny horse helps blind owner
6. Big night for 'Sunshine'
7. Former lawmaker and priest dies
8. Israel bakery bombing kills 3
9. British royals visit U.S.
10. Plucky duck survives again

Lest we start thinking ill of the Americans and their evil/ignorant ways, here is the current top 5 on the BBC international edition:

1. Australia shows Irwin's last film
2. Duck comes back from dead, again
3. Thai airport hit by runway cracks
4. Comedy spoof tops US box office
5. Defiant Reid says 'I won't quit'

Apparently, that is one very popular duck. I would also note for the record that the Big Brother story has been getting a lot of air time on BBC International TV recently.

A further examination of the news reveals a wild variety of murder and mayhem, including the story of a man who was convicted of killing his wife. Though an alarmingly common plot line, the twist came when he blamed his 12-year-old daughter for the killing. There was story of a woman who apparently has mental problems and drowned her children, believing she was sending them to God (also not as unusual as I would hope it to be).

In our modern world, it is difficult to escape the 24-hour stream of news and information. And I do not advocate escape. What I find sorely lacking is some good news - where are the front page stories of people who spend their lives helping others and advocating to make our world a better place? What about teachers who aren't sleeping with students or trying to save public school students from hell? I know they are there, working quietly behind the scenes. I just wish that sometimes they were more interesting to us as a people than a resurrected (admittedly somewhat remarkable) duck.