It is easy to get lost in the negativity spread around our planet. The news about climate change, COVID-19 and racism can be overwhelming. Focussing on the negative is easy. But what would happen if we shift our focus to the positive?
Personally, when I read or watch the news, it makes me feel lost and hopeless. For example, when I find another picture of a seabird wrapped in wires and stuffed with plastic, I still click it because our brains are naturally attracted to negative news. And although we love it, it has a bad impact on our mental health and more importantly, reduces our ambition.
Alternatively, there is positive news or constructive journalism. This type of news has the potential to unite, inspire and empower groups of people. It focusses on our strengths instead of our weaknesses. The Solutions Journalism Network and the Center for Media Engagement did an experiment on solutions-based journalism. In it, adults were asked to read two versions of highly similar articles. One focussed exclusively on the problem, the other with an added solution to the problem. The addition of solutions to the content was the only difference between the two articles. Solution readers were more likely to get involved in solving the issue than non-solution readers. They felt inspired and optimistic. Sometimes you just need to see it to believe it. And that is exactly what constructive journalism does. It helps us understand that our actions can make a difference.
Don’t get me wrong, at NORMN Hangers we don’t live on a big pink cloud where we deliberately make the choice to ignore negative news. But in order to make a change, we made the decision to spread positivity, and show the possible solutions to pressing issues.
Easier said than done. Nowadays you can’t open your social media channels or watch tv without facing some negativity in the world. Fortunately, there are a lot of (social) channels (find them below) who focus on spreading positivity. Treat yourself to a media detox or make it a habit to visit the channels daily and develop your positive mindset!
Tanks good news (Instagram)
The happy broadcast (Instagram)