"You know what I don't like about the paper? It's all bad. It would just be nice to see some good news in the paper for a change."



Of all the opinions people feel compelled to share with me, that is the most often repeated.

It is also the most inaccurate.

The mix of "good news" and "bad news" and "neutral but interesting" news in The Mercury on any given day is about equal. Some days, the good seriously outweighs the bad.

Today's top story: "Lively, emotional service honors the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."

Yesterday: "Gateway to Growth. Planners eye master plan for Route 100 in Norco" shared top billing with "Heating oil price spike drives call for help."

Saturday: "Pair convicted of second-degree murder" -- okay, I admit a murder story is dismal -- but the top photos on the front page were young-at-heart seniors at Frederick Mennonite Community staging a Winter Olympics event. And even the murder story included a positive profile of the victim, "Her life was not in vain."

We suffer the identity crisis of being the bearer of bad news at the same time we want people to like us. We want to be the messenger invited into your home, as well as the resource you use for information. And, we like to inspire and make you smile while we're informing.

Sometimes, the information is bad news. People die in car crashes; children perish in fires; politicians make false promises; thieves embezzle from the elderly.

But there is good news to be told, too, and we especially relish the chance to help make the news even better.

Lindsay Spengler is a young Boyertown area woman who got a second lease on life after the community raised more than $200,000 for experimental medical treatments. The son of a Pottstown police dispatcher was given a Wii in a story that brought together the police department and a community donor. Operation Holiday this year raised $50,000 which we distribute annually in gifts and food to needy children.

These good-news stories came about because of our relationship as a community newspaper with the people of the community. When people say newspapers are a dying breed, these are the stories I remember. Any TV station or Web site could bring you film of a house fire. But then your community newspaper takes it a step further and invites you to donate to a fund to help those left homeless.

You know what I like most about the paper? It makes a difference in people's lives, for better or for worse.