It’s been a year. In the past twelve months, our country has battled bushfires, floods, a pandemic and its subsequent forced lockdowns, mass job losses and the nailbiting antics of a foreign election. Amid all of that pain, time and time again, we saw the good: neighbourhoods galvanised, children wrote letters to far-flung families (their own and otherwise), and community institutions pivoted to provide for frontline workers. In a time when we all felt further apart, we made our best efforts to come together.
Spreading good news is a cause close to my heart; telling the stories of our brave, bold, kind, creative and generous fellow Australians reminds me how special it is to be a part of our national community. Good news makes us feel better and more connected, and it’s an important – if not essential – part of a balanced news diet. As we faced last year’s brutal fires, my mind raced with ways to share uplifting information amongst the struggle; I could’ve had no idea how valuable that approach would become as we neared February, the smoke still settling from our black summer.
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Positive stories – stories of possibility, community, innovation and joy – remind us of what it means to be human, to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. And consistent feedback from our readers, particularly subscribers, tells us that there’s an appetite for brighter, lighter stories that remind us of that shared humanity and capacity for goodness. Our teams – across NSW, Victoria, Queensland and WA – are eager to tell those stories, and these are the stories I want to share with you. (And I want to know all about the stories you want to share with us!)
We hope our new weekly Greater Good newsletter, sent direct to your inbox every Friday, will brighten up your inbox in what is a Very Bizarre Time. This could mean a story about a suburban street that is embracing cooking together (remotely), or the latest innovations that can help you reduce your plastic use at home. It might be a story about a trailblazer, or a deep-dive into long-lost hobbies, such as birdwatching, board-gaming or stamp-collecting.
