I picked up this interesting observation from an Edward Jones newsletter.
Why Are the Media So Negative? The Story of the Bad News Bears
Two university professors, Robert Lichter and Ted Smith, once asked, “Does the media have a negative bias when reporting business news?”
To find the answer, Lichter and Smith analyzed more than 17,000 economic stories broadcast on the three major networks—ABC, CBS and NBC. Their conclusion: When reporting economic news, the three major networks convey a relentlessly negative view.
Lichter and Smith’s studies found that roughly 85% of economic news stories “had a negative tone.” Ironically, the highest periods of negative reporting came not during economic recession, but during times when the economy was expanding. Their findings were published in an article titled, “Bad News Bears” in 1993.
So the next time you visit a newsstand, take a step back and look at the headlines. If they’re negative in tone, things may actually be looking up.
(Forbes Media Critic, Nov 1993)
It’s common knowledge among investors that you find out about a recession near its end. There is such a delay between when it actually happens and when the statistic-gathers can assimilate the information and report it accurately that by the time the reporting is done the economic downturn is frequently about finished.
This type of effect often happens in the healing work. To the struggler working out the problem of Being, when the hour seems darkest, dawn is often nearest.
Mortal mind wants to evaluate the present moment by its experience in past moments, and if the past experience hasn’t been good, the present condition can appear very bleak. In actual fact, night may be about finished and day beginning to dawn.
Sooo, just as you can’t draw accurate conclusions from what you find in much of the News Media, you can’t draw accurate conclusions from what you perceive in the Sense Media either!
Go to Science. It’s the safest place to abide and gets you to where you want to be.
On the media’s headlines … I was at a copy-editing conference where the writing of headlines was discussed. In the course of conversation, an editor at another paper said, “If you can’t have fear in a headline, what have you got?” In other words, the way to grab readers and get them to read your paper is to announce that there is something terribly wrong, and then they feel compelled to buy and read your paper. Remember many papers rely on newsstand sales, so having “catchy” headlines sells papers.
I never thought of this in terms of mortal mind and healing … can’t wait to see where that goes.