People being fundamentally good is the big story

What American novelist David Foster Wallace called the ‘subsurface unity of all things’ – human qualities like compassion and love – should be at the heart of our news stories. This is according to an academic study which shows that doing so inspires belief in the goodness of humanity.

Because being presented with the best of humanity, following news reports on ‘immoral acts’, leads to ‘fewer negative emotions’, say the authors of the study, Kathryn Buchanan from the University of Essex, and colleague Gillian Sandstrom from the University of Sussex.

“News stories featuring the best of humanity take the sting out of items exploring the worst of humanity. This allows people to maintain a core belief that is crucial for good mental health: that the world and the people in it are fundamentally good,” add the authors.

The pair hope the study will make media outlets increase their positive coverage and give more ‘solution-oriented’ angles on the big issues.

We took the approach at last year’s COP27 in Egypt when Paula Maultasch, the then creative executive producer of the Inside Ideas podcast, and myself went in search of positive news stories, asking leaders for their optimistic, ‘solution-oriented’ vision of the future. We called it #ACopHalfFull and you can watch the video below to hear some of the responses.

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