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Originally Posted by JohnZ
So often the media trades in bad news: fear, problems, issues that have negative impact on our lives or the potential. Why? There bad things out there....sure. But there are lots of good too. striking a balance shouldn't be that difficult. Are they catering to our basal instincts?
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John, I have been in the the media business for 45 years. I have been the host of talk shows all over the world. I have been a television news anchor and the host of radio and television morning shows on many big stations in the US and abroad. Never, ever, have we been successful when the focus is on the "good things" out there. Striking a balance is difficult, if not impossible. Given the opportunity, people will aways gravitate to the unusual. This is an age old argument. People always criticize the media for "not" reporting the "good" news. Believe me, speaking from many decades of experience, if they did, they would be out of business.
This is not to say that we want Talk of The Villages to be exclusively a negative tabloid, but it is intended to be a vehicle for people to talk about anything they wish (in the bounds of good taste). It will take on a life of its own. I hope people will talk about their block parties and church functions. Their golf leagues and tournaments. Their children and grand children. Their home towns and jobs. But look at the topics here and the numbers of views and replies. We posted a topic about grandchildren, and 5 people replied. There were 199 views. We asked what you like least about the villages, 28 replied and 895 people viewed it. So much for that.