This newspaper, I know, prefers uplifting stories; it likes to publish stories that are encouraging, that make people feel better, that are some relief from the dilemmas that are regular life.
I also feel that way, knowing that most readers warm to stories triggering positive emotions.
In my near 17 years as editor, a story about a lost wedding ring was the one that resonated most with readers.
No-one died, the wider community was not threatened in any way, nothing was stolen and nor was anyone even hurt; rather, it was a somewhat simple story about a long-lost wedding ring being found.
Some 25 years earlier a woman had lost her wedding ring in a paddock; a paddock that had been grazed, ploughed and cropped many times. But suddenly there was the ring, glinting in the paddock.
Readers loved that story, as did I, but as the evidence illustrates, such stories do not come up all that often, or, at least, they are not publicly shared.
However, there are other stories, stories that demand equal attention, but it seems we psychologically block them out, ignore them, pretend they are not happening. An example of this was evident just recently in the international media.
A celebrity couple had stumbled into some oblique relationship trouble and stories around the world ran into the many thousands. Readers seemed to soak them up, even though what was happening would have no impact on any reader’s life.
In a striking contrast, climate difficulties had been sweeping the northern hemisphere and stories about that dilemma could be counted in the hundreds.
The celebrity story was about frivolity, and beyond some mild titillation would have no effect, while the climate stories were real, demanded serious thought and some sort of active response, but they garnered, comparatively, no real attention.
This column, for some time, has been largely about climate issues, although not exclusively, and their impact on those in Greater Shepparton.
Several years ago, a fellow for whom I have great respect, said: “Stop writing about this, as people don’t want more bad news. Their car’s broken down, their kids are sick, mortgage payments are going up, work is simply that, damn hard work, and their dog has eaten rat poison.”
Understood, but the climate crisis simply trumps all those matters to become an even bigger overarching affair that demands our attention, like it or not.
Australia’s former chief scientist was in Shepparton last month to deliver the annual Fairley La Trobe Lecture and in asking what is to be said to those who deny the reality of our changing climate, he simply said: “Point them to the northern hemisphere and have them look at what’s happening in Canada, across the US and throughout Europe.”
Of course, the events in Canada, across the US and throughout Europe are not stories that are uplifting or encouraging. They will not make you feel better or relieve your concerns about sick kids, broken-down cars, rising mortgage rates, hard work or your dog eating rat poison. But understanding them will help you to personally prepare to live, survive and thrive in a new and different world.