“I get so nervous with these storms,” a silver-haired lady said to me. We were sitting in the lobby of a tennis club, waiting on a tennis tournament to start, rain pelting the tin roof and wind whipping around. The television behind us squawked one tornado warning to the next (mind you it was talking about Louisiana and we were nestled in Crossville, TN). “You know,” I offered up, “I think we hear too much about the scary things, the bad things. There really is so much good out there.” 

“You’re absolutely right,” she nodded, leaning towards me and offering a smile. “That’s why I love what I do,” I added, smiling back. 

As our mission statement says, “It is our goal at Stay Positive News to intentionally fill your feed with positivity. You won't ever see us report on negative news because, quite frankly, there's just too many positive things going on for us to talk about.”

Founded by Jamie Nixon, Donnie Eden, and Rachel Allison, Stay Positive News (SPN) recognizes that 70% of Americans suffer from negative news fatigue. Joining forces, the trio developed the concept of a localized, positive news website that encourages community and highlights the good in humanity.

During that creation phase, Jamie posted throughout his socials, calling for writers with a passion for positive stories. That’s when I became involved as a writer. 

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Shortly after SPN’s first birthday, I was asked to take on the role of Creative Director. I took on the mantel Rachel had built, working with Stay Positive News’ partners, and writers, and further sharing the mission within the North Nashville community. My passion and belief in SPN solidified with every story. I was then invited to step in as a co-owner this past February. 

I fell in love with journalism as a teenager, but I became disillusioned with it in college. I was working for a highly-recognized college paper, writing a story about cockroaches of all things. The editor wanted me to fabricate facts, using vocabulary to incite controversy. I remember thinking, “If this is what journalism is, I don’t want to have any part of it.”

Yet, sharing people’s stories remains a passion. Words are powerful. I have a love/hate relationship with social media and news media. Too often those platforms are used to invoke negative emotions for the purpose of clicks. Stay Positive News counteracts the negativity with healthy doses of real stories pumped full of good. 

As fatigued as we may become by the news and by social media, we have a choice: We can be part of creating good, healthy, and balanced conversations or we can silence ourselves altogether and avoid the media. Silencing our positive voices only gives more room for the negative, for the nasty, and for the discouraging. I believe we are better than that, we are stronger than that.

Someone is always talking. Let’s make sure the good stuff worth talking about is getting plenty of air time.