Every day, people check the news for an update however, instead of being informed on new issues, they are hit with unrealistic coverage, resulting in a morphed picture of reality.

What the majority of national newspapers project is either irrelevant on how to make the world a better place, or pessimistic like the consistent reports of police brutality, racism and “minority” discrimination. Occasionally, there are pieces to interest readers with a positive spin, but most of what the media focuses on are the problems of the world, without providing new angles to balance out the negativity. School shootings are not new, terrorism is not new and gender, racial and religious inequality is not new.

Just this past week two recent stories have published, one in particular on a nursing home shooting in Kirkersville, Ohio and the other pertaining to the murder of a woman who repeatedly rammed another woman against a tree with her Jeep. Although both these stories are extremely newsworthy, they both lack closure for readers.

Even if an immediate solution is not available, providing readers will all the details, the bad and good, demonstrates realism in journalism. Also, while it is important to address that racism and social inequality are pertinent issues, if no solutions are proposed to alleviate the issue, then these stories no longer seem relevant.

In actuality, news reporting regards providing all the current and noteworthy facts about recent or important events. Taking that definition into consideration, if journalists wish to report about a controversial issue, even if it is old, journalists must provide a fresh angle on the issue to keep it current.

Overall, for all news and journalistic sites, the goal for what journalists write is to apprise the people about our nation or our community, but with that we must find equilibrium while still informing the public, not depressing them.

If there is an ongoing issue being covered nationally, rather than reiterating the same problems, the reporter needs to find sources that provide solutions to dampen the likelihood of history repeating itself. People will be more eager to read the news or hear about what is happening in their world if there are more positive changes occurring to better how they live or better the world they live in.  

If there was more positivity in the media, journalists could return to their original calling of fairly reporting the news—providing balanced coverage. By no means am I suggesting that we sugarcoat reality, however, the overpowering negativity in journalism needs to be combatted by realistic solutions. Instead of promoting degradation and division, journalists need to realize they are instrumental in connecting and unifying our communities, be it locally or nationally.