Monday, Aug. 28, 1972
JOURNALISM is often accused of emphasizing bad news while slighting coverage of encouraging developments. There is some justice in this charge. It is part of the human condition that disaster arouses more interest than quiet improvement. Yet the positive gets its share of print -- more than is generally realized. This week's TIME is not exactly brimming over with cheer: there is war, murder or attempted murder in several varieties, skulduggery and disease. But like most issues, it also contains a variety of modest good tidings.
For a sizable part of the electorate, a special TIME poll pointing to Richard Nixon's strong lead over George McGovern on the eve of the President's smooth renomination will be good news (even though it will be greeted with groans by others). The Economy section reports that and number of labor strikes has been unusually low recently, and that wages have been keeping ahead of rising prices.
The higher prices of 1973 cars are not cheering; but Economy tells why the increases will be lower than originally expected. Science discusses the latest developments in electrically powered cars, which may save the atmosphere if not money.
Other good-news items perhaps have more special ized audiences. Education, for instance, discusses a "college without walls" for people who are short on time, money or the inclination to spend much of either in class rooms. The section also tells of an educator who has devised a new, simpler way of teaching Latin (The story was less than a blessing to the editors and proofreaders; it was written in Latin.) Classicists will also be glad to learn of the archaeological find, reported in Science, of two Greek statues some 2,500 years old.
Music carries an article on a hip harpsichordist who turns on youthful audiences with Bach and Mozart. Baseball fans are delighted by the return of competition in the American League East; Sport relates the comeback of the New York Yankees and profiles Sparky Lyle, the relief pitcher who made it possible.
Vegetarians can turn to Science and learn of a breakthrough in genetics that may one day allow man to blend mangoes and melons and other combinations of fruits or vegetables. For animal fanciers, Environment tells of a zookeeper trying to collect as many of Eden's original inhabitants as possible. That is good news to anyone who has never seen an addax, or even an Arabian oryx.
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