A new publication recently sprung up across Northeast Ohio, and it raises some basic questions about newspaper standards. The Positive Times Newspaper’s central mission is to provide news that is positive — and ignore all subjects that are seen as negative.

Here is how publisher Catherine Foster described the newspaper in a July editorial:

As you read through our publication, it is our sincere hope that your life will be enriched in some way and that you will discover the truth that making a conscious decision to think positively and avoid negative subjects, people and conversations will only foster the healthy and positive direction that you chose to live your life.

It’s true that some days, the news it just depressing. Sometimes, you just have to turn off CNN and read a book, but in the end, not all news in positive. That’s just how life is.

It does the public a disservice by only presenting positive news. Good newspapers reflect the communities in which they cover, and sometimes the news isn’t always good.

It’s easy to agree that when a child is abducted, it should be the responsibility of local media to cover that story, no matter how depressing the circumstances might be, if it means that a child may be returned safely.

As readers, we cannot allow ourselves to be closed off to the world and hide behind positive stories. What if reports on genocide were ignored? How would justice be served for the victims?

Granted, a local newspaper should not be expected to report on the conflict in Darfur. But when you narrow your scope to only cover stories that you view as positive, how can you accurately reflect the community you pretend to cover? And at the end of the day, newspapers become irrelevant if they don’t cover important issues in their community.

If we choose to only focus on the positive, we’re missing a lot of important issues that need our attention.

The above editorial is a consensus opinion of the Daily Kent Stater

editorial board.