Only Bad News Counts as News: Time magazine published a year-end issue whose cover was a montage of important events of the decade. Some 118 happenings were chosen by Time editors as the most important in the decade. Four were positive (sports achievements, an African-American inaugurated as president). Fourteen were neither good nor bad ("Pluto demoted to dwarf planet"). One was goofy ("AOL-Time Warner merger" was named by Time as among the world's most important events of the decade). One made you want to weep for the state of American culture ("'The Dark Knight' release" is treated as more important than any book, work of art or music). The rest, 98 of 118 events cited, were negative.

Really? Eighty-three percent of what happened in the past decade was negative? The Time selection says nothing about major positive trends such as declining international military spending (rising U.S. spending is the exception to the rule), declining teen pregnancy rates, declining crime, declining accidental deaths. "U.K. foot and mouth crisis" -- which harmed only livestock -- was cited, but nothing was said about declining cancer rates. "Shark attack" was cited, but nothing was said about the dramatic rise in living standards in most of the developing world. ("Overall, poor countries are catching up with rich countries" on nearly all central measures, according to this important new report.) Yes, journalists have always loved bad news, and have long pretended good news doesn't exist. But this is ridiculous.

so people actually still READ time magazine...huh...who'da thunk hit?!?

"4PackGirl" wrote: