Thumbs up, thumbs down

We often hear the complaint that newspapers are so depressing, negative and tell only the bad news.

It may seem like that at times. There's plenty of bad news out there. The Free Press aimed to combat that perception a few years ago by our "Thumbs up, Thumbs down" feature that runs on the Saturday opinion page.

We give short snippets of actions we're disappointed with (thumbs down) and human activity we think is positive (thumbs up).

I'm here to say that the thumbs up almost always outnumber the thumbs down by a ratio of at least 3 to 1. So, in a year's time, we highlight 156 good things that happened to maybe 52 bad things.

Who says newspapers never have good news?

We also take thumbs items from readers. They'll often write in about a great coach, a great play they saw or just the acts of a Good Samaritan.

In these difficult economic and social times, people want hope. We offer many examples every Saturday morning.

Suggestions or submissions for thumbs can be sent to jspear@mankatofreepress.com