For a week, beginning December 26, millions of Americans will greet each other with the words, “Habari gani.” That means, “What’s going on?” or more formally, “What is the news of the day?” The greeting is part of Kwanzaa, a celebration created in 1966 that combines this country’s year-end festivities with the African celebration of “first fruits”.
Each day of Kwanzaa the greeting, “Habari gani,” draws a different response, but each response speaks of hope and community-building.
Meet someone or call on the phone on the first day, and the response to “Habari gani” is “Umoja” which means unity.
On the second day it’s Kujichagulia, or self determination, followed by:
Ujima – collective work and responsibility.
Ujamaa – cooperative economics.
Nia – purpose.
Kuumba – creativity.
Imani – faith.
Seven days, seven principles of hope in response to the question: What is the news of the day.
The Kwanzaa greeting isn’t a journalistic question, but consider one:
What would it take to produce a daily news report that inspires hope?
You know the deal.
Turn on the radio, watch television news, pick upa newspaper or check an on-line news report and the stories tell of death, crime, corruption, misconduct. They evoke feelings of disappointment, cynicism, frustration and resignation.
That’s why millions of citizens take pride in tuning out the news. Go to a PTA meeting, visit a place of worship, hang out with real people and it doesn’t take long to hear someone say, “I don’t watch the news or read the paper. It’s just too depressing.”
Why can’t the daily news report bring hope?
Is the problem in the definition of news?
Many newsfolk make it through the day without committing to or even considering a definition, yet our actions speak to three approaches.
There is the traditional definition: News is a timely report of fact or opinion of interest or significance to a considerable number of people.
The functional definition: News is a break from the norm.
And the arrogant definition: News is whatever I say it is.
Definition One steers a broad enough course to be safe for all kinds of stories. Definition Three presents a seldom spoken, widely recognized truth. It is at the heart of why people hate the media. Definition Two, however, is the most dangerous. It gives editors and news directors a rote excuse. If a plane falls from the sky, that’s news, they say. It’s not news that thousands of planes land safely everyday. Definition Two allows us to dismiss daily life as worthy of attention.
Maybe we’ve reached a point at which we need to be reminded of the norm, not the exceptions. Maybe so much of our personal and public lives focus on things falling apart, that we could use reminders that things often work, determined efforts lead to solutions, and most people do good things.
The answers aren’t in “happy talk”, daily brights, or special stories on special occasions. The answer is in producing a balanced daily report that tells the bad news, but also presents reasons to cheer.
Here’s how:
Report on solutions – Another plane crash? Add a look at airlines with the best safety records and tell how they do it. Another politician stealing public funds?
Include a look at a long-term politician who has a reputation for integrity. Worried that that person might turn out to be a secret crook? If that comes out, report it. The fear of being wrong seldom stops us from reporting on suspected scoundrels. It shouldn’t stop us from telling about suspected saints.
Tell about real people – Does everyone have a story to tell? Some reporters believe it, and find compelling, worthwhile stories. The stories don’t always have a newspeg. They’re just interesting stories that speak to the human condition. Columnist Geneva Overholser speaks of “showing the courage and joy and victory that surrounds us.” Newsrooms need the courage to show the real world, even if there’s no obvious news tie.
Take the time for context – It only takes a phone call, a visit to a website, or time in a public meeting to gather big news on the day’s negative report. Providing context usually takes more time and critical thinking. Presenting an accurate picture of society is worth the effort.
Bob Haiman’s book, Best Practices for Newspaper Journalists, addresses the public’s concern with media concentration on bad news. In this Freedom Forum study, he tells how news organizations are “finding ways to tell compelling stories about success, achievement, discovery and victory.” One organization redesigned beats and included a “Doing Good” beat. Another set guidelines for crime coverage that included the reminder “react less; initiate more.” He also quoted Washington Post columnist William Raspberry who said, “Scandal has a thousand stringers, but good news can’t even find the editor’s phone number.”
On the last day of Kwanzaa, the last day of the year, celebrants gather for a feast. Food, family and festive decorations dominate, but the gathering is more than a party. Participants spend some time remembering, reassessing, recommitting to high ideals and rejoicing about “the good in the awesome and the ordinary.”
The daily news report is no party. It needs to be blunt and specific. It needs to inform society of things gone awry and doggedly demand change. It must bring out ugly truths and point out patterns of failure.
Given all that, the news could do more. It would be wonderful if the news of the day in 2001 also brought hope.
