I talked to suebe about this tonight. His mailbox was overwhelmed. Great post.

Here's the fundamental problem with this: The stories people send in are not "news."
This doesn't mean he shouldn't read them; he should, it'll send viewership through the roof for awhile, and they'll be seen as a 'receptive' news organization.

But it's like the junk emails that get sent to your inbox or the gossip about a stranger you hear third-hand and is supposed to brighten your day. Crap.

If they did some actual reporting and endeavored to spotlight 'good news,' in a real way, that would be one thing. This is not it.

But it is a clever way to boost morale.

Only because people don't look very deeply.

In this day and age, people need morale boosters, they're so few and far between. Some just want to hold on to the ideal that humanity is ultimately good.