Michelle Gielan had a successful journalism career by most standards. She had landed her dream job at CBS News, where she anchored two early morning programs and did reports for “The Early Show,” now called “CBS This Morning.” She interviewed prominent politicians, newsmakers, and celebrities,ย and her stories were broadcast to millions of people.
But time and again, she found herself covering stories about poverty, death, murder, and devastation. The weight of these stories began to affect her outlook on the profession — and on the world at large.
โOver and over, our mornings began with helplessness and hopelessness,โ Gielan writes in her new book, โBroadcasting Happiness,โ which came out thisย month. โIt was painful to watch, especially from a dark news studio, on repeat all day long.โ
Gielan decided to pitch a different kind of story: a series about positive psychology and how to create happiness amidst tragedy. The resulting CBS series, โHappy Week,โ received the greatest viewer response of the year. For Gielan, this was a sign that people were craving a different kind of news — news that moved beyond the traditional doom and gloom storiesย that so often dominate headlines.

Gielan refers to this different kind of coverage asย โtransformative journalism,โ which she defines as โan activating, engaging, solutions-focused approach to covering news. It seeks to inform the public while providing the necessary tools to create forward progress.โ
In a phone interview with ivoh, Gielan said that Restorative Narratives — a genre ivoh has been developing over the past two years — is a strong example of this type of coverage. So are otherย emerging forms of storytelling — solutions journalism, peace journalism, and the constructive journalism movement in Denmark.
Gielan became so interested in this transformative approach to storytelling that she decided to leave her job at CBS News to get her masterโs degree in applied positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. In her book, she draws upon her experience as both a journalist and a positive psychologist, and points to compelling research that supports the need for transformative news.
โI think thereโs a hunger from the public for a new way to tell stories and for journalists to step up and provide a new level of service to society,โ said Gielan, who is managing partner at GoodThink, a positive psychology consulting firm. โPeople are sick and tired of the news being so negative. When I give talks around the globe, and particularly in the U.S., I often ask, โhow many of you have stopped watching your local news?โ and I get at least half the room raising their hands. always run along the same lines: ‘Itโs negative. Itโs terrible. I canโt do anything about these stories. I just disconnect.’ โฆ At the same time, theyโre wrestling with the fact that they want to stay informed.โ
For years, thereโs been a deep-seeded belief in media that โif it bleeds, it leads,โ meaning the more sensational the story, the more likely people will be drawn to it. This belief is rooted in our naturalย brain response, Gielan said.
โWeโre threat focused; we pay attention to threats in our environment. Nowadays the world is the safest itโs ever been — weโre living in the best times historically than we ever have — but if we still continue to be focused solely on threats, we wonโt see all the resources we have at our fingertips.โ
Thereโs something to be said for this. A Slate article from December 2014 showed that the rate of homicides, rape/sexual assault, victimization of children, mass killings, genocide, and armed conflict and wars has been steadily decreasing in the U.S. and in parts of the world. You would never guess this, though, based on news headlines.
โHow can we get a less hyperbolic assessment of the state of the world? Certainly not from daily journalism. News is about things that happen, not things that donโt happen. We never see a reporter saying to the camera, โHere we are, live from a country where a war has not broken outโโor a city that has not been bombed, or a school that has not been shot up,โ Steven Pinker and Andrew Mack write in their Slate article. โAs long as violence has not vanished from the world, there will always be enough incidents to fill the evening news. And since the human mind estimates probability by the ease with which it can recall examples, newsreaders will always perceive that they live in dangerous times. All the more so when billions of smartphones turn a fifth of the worldโs population into crime reporters and war correspondents.โ
The media has a responsibility to cover tragedies and trauma. This coverage helps keep people informed about whatโs happening in their own community and beyond. But too often, these are the only stories we hear in the media. There aren’tย nearly as many storiesย aboutย what happens after a horrificย crime or traumatic event. Restorative Narratives explore the aftermath by showingย how people and communities are moving from a place of despair to a place of resilience. In doing so, these narratives highlight hope andย optimism.
โResilience is incredibly important in storytelling because itโs one way to show that behaviors matter, and behavior mattering is at the core of having optimism,โ Gielan said. โWhen we have a resilient mindset, which is so deeply connected with an optimistic mindset, we overall believe that good things can happen.โ
Telling Restorative Narratives isnโt about telling one side of the story; itโs about taking a more holistic and balanced approach to news by telling the full story. Perhaps the biggest misconception is that Restorative Narratives and other types of transformative news are simply happy-go-lucky feature stories that lack depth and meaning.
โPeople think itโs puppies and kittens and waterskiing squirrels. Weโre talking about something so much deeper than that,โ Gielan said, noting that media coverage is too often siloed into โpositiveโ and โnegativeโ stories. โTransformative journalism is the third path that says โweโre going to cover serious news but weโre going to cover it in a way that leaves you feeling like your actions matter. It provides potential calls to action so that people can feel like theyโre part of the process. It has a greater goal than just telling you bad stuff in the world.โ

Gielan has done research to prove the need for transformative news that moves beyond traditional โif it bleeds, it leadsโ coverage. She highlights this research in her book, along with several other related studies.
Weโve known for awhile that repeated exposure to traumatic news can cause acute stress symptoms, trigger flashbacks, and encourage fear-mongering. These stories can leave people feeling hopeless and can change their outlook.
One of Gielanโs studies suggests that news coverage can dramatically shift a personโs mood from neutral to negative in a matter of minutes. As she writes in her book: โA barrage of negative news reports shows us stories of a world that is frightening and seemingly hopeless. Often these feelings linger with viewers and cascade into their time at work or school. The results of another study show that people who watch local news view their city as significantly more dangerous than it actually is, in terms of anticipated amounts of crime or likelihood of disaster.โ
Gielan is furthering her research through a news media study withย her husband Shawn Anchor (a well-known positive psychologist) and Arianna Huffington.
Early findings from their research show that when people are exposed to just three minutes of negative news first thing in the morning,ย theyโre 27% likely to report having had a bad day six to eight hours later. By contrast, people exposed to โtransformative newsโ for just three minutes in the morning are 88% likely to report having had a happy day six to eight hours later.
Thereโs also a business case for telling these types of narratives, says Gielan, who is an executive producer for “The Happiness Advantage with Shawn Anchor” on PBS. Sheย pointed to a Stanford University study which found that theย placement of print articles and ads greatly influencesย buying decisions.ย Consumersโ intent to purchase was higher, and their attitude toward aย brand was more positive, when the advertisement they viewed was placed next to positive stories.ย Consumers exposed to positive content before viewing the ad were 24% more likely to want to purchase the product in the ad, the study found.
Research also shows that people want to share transformative news. In a study about what makes content go viral, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business analyzed the most-shared New York Times stories over the course of three months. The researchers’ findingsย contradict long-held beliefs about the type of news people want.
Drawing upon this research, Gielan writes that viral content follows three rules: โPositive content is more viral than negative content, emotional content reaches more people, and people prefer sharing practical, useful content. Of the three dimensions, a news storyโs positivity was most predictive of sharing behavior. Highly positive, emotional content was more likely to be shared and go viral.โ
All of these findings signal the need for change in media coverage. So much of the innovation in media these days revolves around technology. This is important, and a step in the right direction. But we also need to be thinking about innovation in terms of the types of stories we tell.
Gielan said some news organizations are embracing transformative approaches to journalism and hopes more will in the coming years.
She pointed to one anchor in particular — Ernie Anastos, who has revamped the 6 p.m. Fox News broadcast in New York with a focus onย transformative journalism. By showcasing stories about solutions to social issues, and illuminating stories that offer hope instead of merely despair, he has changed the tenor of the entire broadcast, Gielan said. As a result, he has seen an increase in ratings, and other stations have been calling him to seek tips on how they can adopt a similar storytelling approach.
To help journalists embrace the transformative news approach, Gielan has created a โJournalist Manifesto,โ which is featured in her book and on her website. Itโs intended to be a guide for journalists who want to explore this third path of storytelling.
โIโve been overwhelmed by the number of people who have downloaded the manifesto,โ Gielan said. Many people have submitted examples of transformative news — examples that Gielan wants to eventually turn into case studies.
As a former journalist, Gielan remains optimistic that more media practitioners and newsroom leaders will embrace restorative narratives, solutions journalism, and other transformative storytelling genres. It takes time, a cultural shift, and an understanding of these genres’ importance.ย Journalists can turn toย research to learn about their importance — and they can turn inward by reflecting on why they got into the profession in the first place.
โThe majority of journalists got into the business because they wanted to do good for the world. I think the research reminds us that our initial intentions, and the potential for what we can do now, are fully aligned,” Gielan said. “The vast majority of journalists want the same thing — to inform people, give them the information they need, and create positive change in the world.โ