Not sure what exactly is inspiring this mini-trend of people advocating for us on Twitter to other projects and organizations, but thank you. We have a theory. 1/

“Good news” is having a moment. But “good news” doesn’t always mean well-reported journalism. And there’s this feeling that pure “good news” is like cotton candy: yummy, but you’re still hungry.

We believe you can tell #TheWholeStory and not leave people miserable. 2/

There is a lot of space between “good” and “bad” news. Some “bad” isn’t even all bad: People are making progress. Potential!

And some “good” news isn’t that good: Crowdfunding a wheelchair means something systemic is broken. Not good. 3/

This new @CJR piece from @mathewi describes this really well. Good news is a palate cleanser, one we can’t naysay. But it’s not a real solution (wink) to news avoidance or that sense of creeping dread. 4/ https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/good-news-uplifting-delusional.php?utm_source=CJR+Daily+News&utm_campaign=c8e4d2a210-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_10_31_05_02_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9c93f57676-c8e4d2a210-174375461&mc_cid=c8e4d2a210&mc_eid=184c3214e3&fbclid=IwAR25Io4ko42ydLiN-o4fewz9oi2b5mVAnNJwBMCVM9hotiQXHtbm9ca9dO0

The only way to address news avoidance is to create journalism that reflects the totality of the world: messy, good, bad, always in motion, always a complex mixture of success and failure. 5/

“The solution is not... more positive news but to create more knowledge, to truly understand how the world works, what forces are at work trying to address problems. It’s not more awareness about problems, or even outrage, but: What can we do about it?” @dnbornstein 6/

Look, we’ll never hate on good news. But we also really appreciate everyone helping us have space in the conversation. Each one of us believes deeply in the power of SJ to help reimagine people’s relationship with journalism and journalism’s relationships with our communities. 7/

Solutions journalism is “neither doom and gloom nor fluff.” ( @hansenkarenm) It is hope with teeth. It is journalism that refuses to paint communities as made up only of problems. And we hope it makes people feel better than good. We hope it makes them feel powerful. 8/8

P.S. The *feeling* is a bonus. The issue isn't that journalism makes people "feel bad." Doctors don't just diagnose a patient and say, "Well that's the truth." They give treatment options.

The issue is that we are leaving people with diagnoses and no information about repair.

P.P.S. If you were in a community trying to solve major problems and journalists were omnipresent as you suffered but said that sharing any progress was "not journalism," would you subscribe to those papers?