The good news about bad news

The last few days have been busy for people in the news media, with bomb blasts, a plane crash and the tragic final homecoming of a prominent political leader. There was a lot happening and it wasn’t all good news. Yet, paradoxically, the days were what we in the news media have come to term ‘good news days’.

Before you start shooting at me for being another one of those insensitive journalists who cash in on people’s miseries, let me assure you we in no way consider the news to be good.

Covering and reporting such tragic events is no easy feat. We have to keep our personal feelings and emotions aside. We don’t have time to be shocked at the enormity of a disaster or show disbelief at who in the world would target worshippers at a mosque.

No sir, we have to be on our toes and get to work immediately. The reason – because, you, the readers and the viewers expect us to deliver all the information we have as soon as we can and in the best way we can. And it is you who anxiously seek the ‘bad news’.


So, days with a lot of bad news become days that people turn more to the media, and that gives us a chance to deliver - hopefully responsibly.

Hence by extension, ‘bad news’ equals a ‘good news day’ for the media. It’s when the flow of the news is fast enough to fill the airwaves, the news space and get more hits on the website.

It’s the day when you do not have to go hunting for new and exciting stories; when your boss isn’t angry at you for not keeping things moving and when you have the maximum number of visitors on the website.

It’s the day when the old maxim ‘bad news sells’ is proven true. But it’s also the day when despite the buzz and excitement of working on a big story, there is a nagging sensation inside, hoping that as you write those stories, you do not lose the human that was once sensitive to the pain and shock that accompany such news events.