On the eve of the launch of her new book, Jodie Jackson reflects on the growing audience-driven call for more constructive reporting.
Over the years I spent researching the effects of the news on our mental well-being, many people doubted the ability of individuals and organisations to bring about positive change in the newsroom. They told me: ‘the news is the way it is; you are never going to change it.’
Despite initial skepticism, those who have been following the spread of constructive journalism across the media industry know how quickly it has become mainstreamized in the last five years.
I hope it will appeal to what I call ‘radical optimists’. As playwright George Bernard Shaw so eloquently put it, ‘The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.’
I invite you to be unreasonable with me. Refuse to accept that there is only one way that the news should be; refuse to accept that negative news is the only narrative worth telling; refuse to accept that the news ‘is the way that it is’ and instead decide that it should be more balanced in its coverage. And then start making changes and choices that reflect this.
Join Action for Happiness for an inspiring evening with Jodie Jackson to mark the launch of her ground-breaking new book You Are What You Read.
Tuesday 9 April, 19.00 – 20.30h, Conway Hall, London. Tickets here
We all know the saying ‘you are what you eat’ in relation to our bodies – but when it comes to our minds ‘you are what you read’ is equally true. The impact of our mental diet is less visible but just as powerful.
In this empowering talk, Jodie Jackson will explain the impact the news has on our mental health and show us how we can take a more conscious and constructive approach to our media diet. By shifting the way we consume the news, we have the power to boost our mental health, transform our lives and just possibly change the world.
