A recent article in our local newspaper serves as a reminder of how good news can masquerade as bad news. It's all in what gets emphasized.
It noted that Louisiana's sugar cane crop this year was significantly smaller due to the Hurricanes Gustave and Ike, which last year wreaked havoc across our state. Bad news.
Good news: Because of the storms, the sugar content of the cane is significantly increased. So while there may be a smaller sugar cane crop this year, what is available is far superior in quality.
There is less, but it is better.
Contrast both sides of this story with what usually gets reported on the 24 hour talking head news networks. They have to fill time and they have to get ratings. They know that bad news sells. When did you last hear someone on Fox, CNN, or MSNBC spend an hour telling us how good things were? Someone died in an auto accident today. That's sad. But on the other hand, millions of other drivers arrived safely to countless destinations today. That side rarely gets told, because frankly, it just isn't news.
No wonder there such a sense of foreboding in our society.
And that's today's slice of life in southwest Louisiana- sunny side up.
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