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full. Luckily there was no trouble this time. If there had been trouble for whatever reason, the focus on the race would have been lost. Credit where credit is due - the media does report fully on events such as these and they do an excellent job. But sporting events are the exceptions that prove the rule.

The effect of excessively negative news can help to create a mood of gloom and doom amongst the population of a country.

In a country such as South Africa, the local media tends to focus almost exclusively on the negatives. These include crime, the electricity crisis, government policy failures, corruption and inflation. These are important issues that must be reported and discussed. But there is a tendency to see only the failures and the problems without looking at possible solutions.

Two things recently reminded and surprised me that there is much that is positive in the country. The first was a blog posting by a young black man that described the myriad of ways that the advent of democracy had improved his life and that of his family. The second was my own review of what had been achieved. I was astounded to discover that there are actually many more positive than negative developments and events taking place.

It is a principle that can be applied to many countries and to many news events. Perhaps there is a need for the media to re-look at the way in which it reports news. Often news events lack the context that would provide a more holistic and balanced view. When the only news that is ever reported about a country is negative, how does this affect our perceptions?

There is no doubt that the negative must be reported. But the human psyche needs balance. Unless we want a world dominated by depression, negativity and even war, it is necessary to report the positive as well. We need to be reminded that even though many negative events are taking place all around us, most things are actually going very well. The wheels keep on turning and we have little cause for despair.

Learn more about this author, Barry Marcus.
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