Doesn’t it make a change to wake up to some good news?
In general I’m not a fan of the Today programme. It’s definitely gone more tabloid over the years, and at the moment – like most of our news media – it positively seems to revel in dishing out depression.
OK, so there’s plenty to be depressed about. The Haiti earthquake looks as close to hell as any of us would want to get. The UK economy – among many others – is still in deep trouble. Senior bank staff still don’t seem to have any actual contact with the real world. And many of us are still recovering from a weather-enforced slow start to the year (just in time for the tax bill…)
But – given all that – perhaps this morning’s story should give us pause.
Because this morning, after the official rescue mission had already been called off, a man was pulled out alive from the ruins of a hotel in Port au Prince.
He’d been there 264 hours. No one believed he could still be alive. No one had dared to hope.
So – more in hope than expectation – a rescue team that had been told to give up decided not to. And saved a life.
Which is exactly my point. Today’s media are long on despair, manufactured concern and fake indignation. But they’re desperately short on hope. And who says good news doesn’t sell? What’s so uninteresting about real courage, real spirit, and genuine passion for a good cause? And why can’t we have more of it?
So that’s how I’m starting this morning. With hope.
Because why waste your time starting with anything else?