We respond to news that signals a threat, but what about news that suggests what to do about it?

The dominance of negative news is a testament to how relatively pleasant ordinary life is in Britain (for now)

Journalists are often accused of focusing on bad news. Looking at my own output since I joined The Independent in June, I can’t say it fills the heart with joy and hope.

Research has suggested that humans are hardwired to pay most attention to unusual or deviant things because they pose potential threats. So journalists – being human themselves – tend to favour such things in their news coverage, and our equally human readers are drawn to those headlines.

But for an event to be newsworthy, it doesn’t have to be bad. It does, however, have to be unusual or indicate some kind of change. For example, last week this newspaper reported that El Salvador had its first day without a murder for two years. This was obviously good news, and newsworthy because it was out of the ordinary.