Bad news is good news?

Reading the news headlines and watching news programmes for the last while it is impossible not to feel that the world is suffering from some sort of spiritual malaise.

Whether it be a morbid fascination with all things doom and gloom or a societal dumbing down more generally, all news at the minute seems to be bad news or gossip, or both.

Anyone familiar with media knows the old saying 'bad news is good news.' It sells papers and gets viewers. I mean lets be honest, how many of us love reading about the latest politician (or their spouse - Jacqui Smith anyone?) getting up to no good, or the most recent celeb break-up? The majority of Heat readers for a start.

This sort of bad news media fodder seems harmless in light of the recent torrent of misery that has been splashed across the red-tops and even the broadsheets.

Job losses, strikes, tax increases, inflation rates, property prices falling, unemployment soaring....and Jade Goody.

Now don't get me wrong, these are clearly the issues of the day and as such the media industry has a duty to report them, indeed I am the first to want to know the ins and outs of Brian Lenihan's austere new budget in the Republic.

But I'm beginning to think that this negative media is part and parcel of a bigger and entirely more disturbing reality and is even destructive.

A perfect example of this is coverage of the untimely death of Jade Goody. Michael Parkinson has come in for some criticism after he gave an interview with the Radio Times and dared voice an opinion that the 27-year-old reality star's death, while undoubtedly a tragedy, did not perhaps warrant the media coverage that saw her sell her wedding photos for £700,000 and be on the front pages nearly every day for the last weeks of her life.

Personally I thought it was like a perverse countdown to the end, and was and am profoundly uncomfortable with it. Reading Parky's comments I couldn't have agreed more.

The whole issue is like the chicken and the egg. Do the newspaper men write the news or does the public dictate what is written based on their tastes?

I think the balance has most definitely shifted in favour of the latter with editors increasingly preoccupied with what they think will please us, the baying mob, and sell the paper and are less worried about responsible and tasteful journalism. But would it really hurt newspaper editors to push a good news story to the front pages?

Look at the fact the Emerald Project has £150m to spend in Northern Ireland on everything from green energy to waste disposal - a gift from New York state. Although none has been spent as yet, it's still £150m to be spent in the province. Or the SDLP publishing proposals for budgetary amendments which could save £400m unnecessary expenditure by Stormont.

Today the Irish government announced that people from Co. Derry/Londonderry will now, for the first time, be able to use the name of Londonderry when applying for an Irish passport. With all the focus on dissident republican activity and punishment shootings, such a story should be given the weight it is due - it is a significant step forward in the shaping of new identities on this island and a small step in the reconciliation of traditions, very much in the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement.

A N Wilson also wrote an opinion column on the coverage of Jade Goody's death in the Daily Mail. I hasten to add that I am not a regular reader of this paper, afraid as I am that I may be labelled 'disgruntled from Kent,' but the points he raised about the way her death was covered and the character of modern media was both informed and persuasive.

He argued we have become a nation of voyeurs, content to live our lives through the religious following of others', these so-called 'reality stars.' The comparisons he made between the rise and fall of Jade Goody in the way her public persona was manipulated by newspaper editors' and a baying crowd watching gladiators fight to the death in ancient Rome was completely appropriate.

The death of anyone is a sad occasion, it is also a solemn one. Jade's death was a tragedy as she was young girl and had two children, but things like this happen every single day.

Quiet sadness and personal reflection is carried in the damaged hearts of most people throughout their days - no-one is immune to tragedy in their lives. Communal grieving is all well and good, indeed it is even healthy. Veneration of Jade Goody is not.

It is however, a manifestiation of all that is ill in today's society.

The 'career' and coverage of Jade is in tune with what seems to be our generations insatiable thirst for instant gratification, a quick buck, and bad news. It as if people need to hear about the unfortunate lives of others to make themselves feel better. It's all instant, disposable, with the predictable drama and tinge of sadness - gossip for the morning tea break and then onto the next victim.

Such a desire for instant gratification is the heart of the credit crunch!! All ambition and no competence, all want and no give.

The buck has to stop somewhere and clear lines drawn. The current state of the economy and people's finances will hopefully herald in a new belief system, one which is aided by responsible media coverage reflecting it. One where hard-work, competence and a belief in the good of society rather than personal gratification is the new hymn sheet from which we sing...or maybe I'm wrong, maybe worshipping at the altar of a woman who thought Rio De Janeiro was a footballer is ok.