I had been sports editor at The East Valley Tribune, located in the Metro Phoenix area, for only a few months when the newspaper’s editor, Alan Geere, announced in our editor’s meeting that we would be trying something different for the July 22, 1998 edition of the paper.
Geere, an Englishman, was the product of the UK’s tabloid newspaper tradition which put a heavy emphasis on being provocative and unconventional.
The idea: The masthead of The Tribune on that Wednesday would be changed from “East Valley Tribune” to “Good News Tribune.” The front page of every section – the front page, sports, business and features – would consist of “good news” only. Any bad news, be it related to crime or controversy, would be conspicuously absent from the cover regardless of its news value.
This was particularly tricky for me as sports editor since the Arizona Diamondbacks, in their first season, were on their way to a last place finish and a 65-97 record. The Diamondbacks played at San Francisco on Tuesday, which meant we might have to push the game coverage to the inside pages if the news wasn’t good, i.e., the Giants beat the Diamondbacks as might be expected.
That Wednesday morning, readers saw a front page that included stories about the increase in curbside recycling in Scottsdale and a story about how Mesa’s tap-water tasted better than it had in years. The sports section was built around the Diamondbacks’ 5-3 win over the Giants, which qualified as good news in more than one respect.
Newspaper staff hated it. It was like going to Sky Harbor airport and reporting about all the planes that didn’t crash. It was boring, contrived and trivial.
Reader reaction was generally favorable. Most saw it as a respite from the “bad news” of the day. Some, though, saw it for the gimmick it was.
The “Good News Tribune” ended after a single day.
That may be the biggest distinction between us – the people who deliver the news – and you, the readers.
Readers are prone to categorize the news we print as “good/positive” or “bad/negative.” For us, it’s not good or bad, it’s the importance of the story that determines how it is reported and presented.
A good example of this came in this past weekend’s edition, when The Dispatch published a story that detailed a proposal for Mississippi School for Math and Science to share a campus with a new Starkville High School on the Mississippi State campus. It would mean the end of MSMS’s association with Mississippi University for Women, which housed the residential high school since its inception in 1987.
The story provided insight into the discussions between a former MSMS executive director, legislators and MSU leadership that began in 2023. The story took multiple weeks to complete, and the paper paid more than $1,200 in open records request fees. It’s not a story The Dispatch newsroom took lightly.
Some readers reached out to us and took to social media to complain about publishing a “negative” story about MSMS’s future, especially during the school’s alumni weekend. We understand that readers in Columbus may have found the story disturbing. The idea of an well-organized campaign to move MSMS from Columbus and MUW to Starkville and MSU would be bad news indeed for those who believe MSMS should stay put.
But reporting these plans is not negative. It’s informative and important – and maybe helpful.
Sun Tzu, the Chinese military strategist whose concepts in his book “The Art of War” are still respected today, wrote: “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.”
It seems pretty clear that the fate of MSMS remains uncertain.
For those who favor the move to MSU, the story laid out what proponents feel are the benefits of the move, revealed their strategy and identified key players, especially in the state legislature where Rep. Rob Roberson is the leading advocate.
For those who oppose the move, there is some value in knowing all that, as Sun Tzu reminds us.
Our news coverage advocates neither position. Our focus is to provide relevant information.
The good/positive or bad/negative elements of a news story often rely on the reader’s point of view.
As a news operation, we don’t weigh the story in those terms. What we can safely say is that the story is important.
That’s something all parties who are interested in the fate of MSMS should be able to agree on.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 40 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
