It’s what The Good Times has been saying for a while now. Read less news and track down the helpful, encouraging stories. You’ll achieve increased well-being.

An article in The Guardian puts it eloquently. Consuming the news as it’s disseminated today is harmful. According to this article, it misleads, it’s irrelevant, it’s even toxic, and it inhibits thinking.

The Good Times is fighting all that. As the article states: “The daily repetition of news about things we can’t act upon makes us passive. It grinds us down until we adopt a worldview that is pessimistic, desensitised, sarcastic and fatalistic.” So we propose news that’s not negative, despite being current and factual, and that we can feel good about. We highlight the positive news stories, those that show us what we can do individually to bring about positive change, like Fraser Doherty’s tea parties, or to contribute to a good cause, like donating 60 cents to Operation Smile, which will make a huge and happy difference to someone for the rest of their life.

But, according to the article, “comprehension declines as the number of hyperlinks in a document increases.” So no more links in this blog post. Instead, check out our upbeat news stories that inspire us to act and be constructive.