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Good news gets buried when it doesn’t fit the left’s narrative of perpetual crisis.
Why does negative news dominate our national conversation while positive stories quickly fade away? The traditional explanation is that bad events are newsworthy because they break the norm, while positive trends tend to be gradual. And yes, there’s still truth to that old maxim, “If it bleeds it leads.”
But there’s something else going on as well. In recent years, our news media has expanded its ambit. Reporters are no longer content merely covering events. Now they see themselves as stewards of public morality. They must nudge readers toward proper beliefs and shield them from dangerous facts. Many Americans first noticed this pattern during the Covid pandemic. News and social-media outlets worked as one to pillory lockdown skeptics, squelch awkward stories (Lab leak? What lab leak?) and stoke a sense of endless crisis.
Today, the media rarely suppresses stories as thoroughly as it smothered inconvenient Covid news. But after an initial burst of coverage, most outlets quickly lose interest in topics that challenge elite opinion or undermine progressive institutions.
Continue reading the entire piece here at the Wall Street Journal (paywall)
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James B. Meigs is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a City Journal contributing editor.