It's been hard to watch and read the news. I'm not sure when it started, but everything seems so bleak - if you believe all that you see, hear and read.
Someone somewhere commented that it was time to change this perception that all is gloom and doom. Let's take the newspaper business as an example.
Here's what happens: folks gather at the local eatery, say bad things about their local paper ("there's nothing in there - I get my news from that other paper"; "I get a paper but I don't read it"; "Don't they have a proofreader?"; "I heard they're going under"), then those remarks get repeated in other settings, advertisers hear them and cut back on their advertising, then the paper hurts and gets rid of people, then there are fewer of them to gather local news...and, well, you've got yourself a self-fulfilling prophecy. Then, the original folks can claim they were right all along.
Even before I got into the newspaper business I never understood businesses that were reluctant to advertise. How are we supposed to know when you have a sale? Or a new product? There have been some businesses I was surprised to find were still around because I hadn't seen any ads from them in ages.
I don't know - I don't have all the answers. Maybe someone can enlighten me.
