Accentuating The Positive

Working in TV news can be a heavy, heavy job. Think about it -- if you're depressed by the doom and gloom you sometimes see on your nightly newscasts, think about how it must feel to report it!

I think a lot of stations are pushing hard these days to do a better job of telling people about positive things going on in their communities. Viewers need a break from the stories about crime and corruption. And so do reporters. I mean, everyone likes a reminder that there are indeed good things happening in the world around them.

But we still have to report on the shocking crimes and the stories that leave you shaking your head. Reporters learn pretty quickly that we have to detach ourselves from what we're reporting, especially when it's horrible, heartbreaking news.

To some extent, we have to desensitize ourselves in order to not become totally disillusioned by some of the stories we cover. However, I think truly great reporters also stay in touch with their humanity and never, ever lose sense of the gravity of the stories they cover -- and the impact these real-life events have on real-life people. Tapping into our own emotions helps us convey the raw, human condition in the stories we report.

That said, covering the Cody Richardson story a couple of weeks ago really got to me. I'm not sure why it bothered me so much. Perhaps it was the sheer fact that he was so upset (for whatever reason) that he thought the best resolution was to strangle his wife. Perhaps it was the fact that this couple was so young. Or perhaps it was his cool, calm demeanor when he called 911 two days after he killed his wife to confess. (Or perhaps even the fact that a source closely connected with the case tells me he slept in the same bed with her body for a couple of nights before calling the cops.)

Whatever the case may be, covering that story for three or four straight days really shook me and left me in a foul mood. Maybe I just lost a little faith in humanity.

But then come stories like today's that restore your faith in humanity, that remind you that there are great people doing great things in the world around us and that give you a true feeling of emotional blessing when you get to be a part of them.

I got to cover a homecoming at Cherry Point. I've probably covered a dozen of them by now, but they never get old. It's always refreshing to watch heroes come home -- and to see the reactions of their friends and families once they're reunited after months of worrying and waiting.

It's a cleansing experience -- a good time that washes away the negative energy from troubling stories. I'm glad that we cover these stories fairly often at WNCT, to give the men and women fighting for our country (and the families who also sacrifice so much) their due. They certainly deserve it.

And it gives all of us a chance to accentuate the positive going on in the world around us.