Earlier today, someone very close to me (<40 centimetres) recommended that BIG Media Ltd. publish more feel-good content.
She said that she heard someone on the radio talking about positive news and immediately visited his website.
She said that more people would visit BIG Media if we balanced optimistic news with all the negative stuff.
My inside voice said, “Stay calm, Rob … respond with a measured intellectual response.”
My outside voice: “What the heck are you talking about??!!”
“We are educators, not cheerleaders. In the same way that university education should not be all rainbows and lollipops, the news should be a reflection of what is ACTUALLY going on in the world.
“BIG Media is here to provide practical knowledge about important issues.
“But the truth is, most of it IS positive!
“When we presented data showing that the polar bear population is quite stable – Polar bear population analysis presents balanced picture – you should have been really happy.
“When we helped you understand the relative lethality of COVID-19, and that it was statistically only a major threat to those in very poor health,” you should have been smiling from ear to ear … while encouraging those around you to stay or become fit. Assessing the relative lethality of COVID-19: a Canadian case study
“When we illustrated with simple facts and data that sea level was not rising at a dangerous pace (Sea level is rising; should we be worried?) and glaciers were not disappearing at alarming rates (Funeral for a glacier ).
“When our articles helped you understand that we are not in the throes of a climate catastrophe, you should have been over the moon! Severe whether alert – Is it time for news media groups to drop the charade?
“However, you are not happy when you read our articles because you do not want to believe that you have been duped by your favourite broadcasters for all these years. So, instead of being overjoyed, you are annoyed that we showed you that the world is OK.
“Do you see how terrible that is?”
Now, after that rant, there is an excellent chance that I will be sleeping alone tonight, but I may have scored a few points in the long run.
Meanwhile, we at BIG Media will never sleep on you. We will continue to publish critical facts with logical interpretation – routinely great news that should inspire optimism – and I implore you, the skeptical reader, to not worry, be happy, and stop wasting your brain space and time on woefully irresponsible and inaccurate news feeds.
(Rob Driscoll, BIG Media Ltd., 2026)
