I have begun to seriously believe that people who load the stories on web sites devoted to the news never bother to read what anyone else has written. Or there is no web editor looking at the forest, instead the focus is on each tree.

Want to know what I’m talking about?  The stories alone are very clear, but the headlines contradict each other and they are sooooo negative.

You can’t see the small print, but the headlines say:

• Stocks decline on economy worries
• Consumer confidence unexpectedly rises
• U.S. economy took a tumble in the summer
• More Americans relying on food stamps

Three of the four headlines are negative news, but there is one bright spot.  I just think that for consumer confidence to increase, perhaps reporters should focus on successes just as much as problem stories.  For example, instead of focusing on more people relying on food stamps, how about how lucky we are to have that safety net of food stamps being available?

I know this isn’t directly real estate related, but real estate is most definitely impacted by the ongoing negative portrayal of *everything*.  So lighten up, news, will ya?  Let’s see if we can rethink our headlines:

• Great time to buy stocks
• Boost seen in consumer confidence
• U.S. economy exerts gymnastic move
• More Americans avoid going hungry because of food stamps

This is why I was a speech writer in a former life.  Perception is everything.