Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Wanna Hear Some Good News?

Before he even asks how my day was, Craig asks if I read The Herald. That's how important the news is to him. I find reading the news a chore, a bore and mostly, something to ignore. Corruption, rape, murder, robbery. There is hardly ever anything to make you smile, reminisce or inspire.

I've actually often felt that, what I shall henceforth call 'The News', preys on the human mind's natural tendency to be drawn to the negative: moths to flames. It's a bit like gossip. Have you ever noticed how macabrely delicious it is to have a fat skinner about So-and-So who was caught doing such-and-such? Isn't it the same with The News? It never fails to cause me great existential pain to see why News like a baby being raped must be exposed and brutalised by so many eyes who, when they read it, seldom think about that specific child, but instead blow it up into generalisations (e.g. the crime in this country is out of control) and self-centred ruminations such as, "Thank goodness my child is safe." It is as if The News is simply reflected out like so much bad energy, instead of it becoming absorbed and then acted upon in a positive way. Perhaps money could be donated, or time, or clothes. Communities could gather and increase their sense of community policing. But instead, all The News seems to do is strengthen the apathy already out there, and ANAESTHETISE everyone into an unthinking, unfeeling, passive herd.

And so it was with kismetical delight that I stumbled upon South Africa - The Good News! as well as MyZA At last!!!!!!!! Hang on a minute - did I hear someone calling me 'Ostrich'? I am not 'in denial about the facts of South Africa' as someone recently said to me, but I seek to make myself aware of ALL the facts. And by that I mean that I actively look for the good news about South Africa, and try to view the negative news with a social activist's perspective: i.e. if you read about a baby being raped in Khayelitsha, allow your (righteous) anger to compel you to action, by calling up the newspaper and seeing if there was a way you could get a parcel of food or clothes and blankets to the child's parents; or if you know of a child psychologist, phone them and ask if they would be willing to work with this child on a pro bono basis. (Have I been watching too much TV? Is it only lawyers who do pro bono work?!) The other thing I do when people throw SA's crime problem in my face is counter it with facts about the crime in other countries. i.e. like how in the UK you are not afraid of a poor person mugging you for your spare change, but terrified of children. Kapish?

Wouldn't it be incredible to see everyone boycotting The (Bad) News, and switching over to The Good News until The (Bad) News underwent a radical transformation? I wonder what impact this would have on our collective South African consciousness? I could bet my HEART that a miracle would occur!

PS. For exquisitely heartfelt art-photographs of Africa, visit Jules Comley's website. (Her and husband, Simon, travelled down through Africa from London to Cape Town in their Land Cruiser a few years ago - it was how they decided to make their epic trek back home after quite a number of Soutie years oustide of London.)

6 comments:

Mandy said...

I stopped reading South African news when I arrived here. I read some excellent blogs showcasing wonderful things about SA but I don't read IOL or News24. The Husband does and it drives me to despair.

MyPE said...

Just what qualifies as news?

Doom and Gloom, If it BLEEDS it Leads (or what I think of as newspaper porn) are what SELLS newspapers or THE NEWS - we all love to think we are 'better off' than other people and relish reading about it.

Experience an interview with one of our new journalists to realise exactly what I am saying - an undercurrent of any interview is the need for the journalist to find a juicy angle that will be highlighted with a juicy headline to SELL the publication. In THE NEWS the perception is that you are only as good as your last scandal.

Of course there are also those who love reading about how rich and 'beatiful' other people are - (magazine self flagellation?).

The so called FACTS of South Africa, I often think, are borne out of a sense of indignant jealousy on the part of people who secretly wish that the rebirth of South Africa was accomplished via the horror of another UHURU.

Just imagine how many newspapers would have been sold if the peaceful transformation of power had been replaced with riots, stabbings, shooting and mayhem?

Jealousy will make you bitter.

If a normal society is a safe boring police state then give me abnormal any day!

If you do not know the rain how the hell are you going to relish the sunshine?

Or, in other words, the very fact that South Africa still has, let's call them, 'teething problems' is what makes us as a nation vibrant and caring - if we didn't care we wouldn't do something about it.

Unknown said...

This is so incredibly well said and oh so true - well done! I wish that we could bare in mind that good things can come out of bad experiences in life, it just takes an idea or a guiding hand to change perspective on a situation. We do need to start working together and building this AWESOME community and country of ours.

Lisa said...

Thanks Emm, Alan and Janine :) I could SO become a pest of an activist for this country of ours!! lol! In fact, I suspect I may already be one ;) What is so amazing though, is to find SO MANY like-minded/hearted souls out there! Also, things like http://www.MyZA.co.za and South Africa The Good News prove that we are not a mere handful, but a big, happy group of happy campers! VIVA SOUTH AFRICA :)

Mark Berger said...

Hi Lisa

I read your blog about the negative news and it resonated completely with my own views. I wrote a fairly controversial piece on the same topic in May 2008 - it must have touched some chords as it received hundreds of positive responses from around the world. If you have a couple of minutes and want please visit http://www.markberger.co.za/finally-some-real-good-news-about-sa
to read the piece. I would appreciate your comments. Keep up the positive energy! In light Mark Berger

Janine said...

Couldn't agree more - but also check out www.mediaclubsouthafrica.co.za for a healthy dose of good SA news, delivered fresh every day.