Letter: Good news: why the media should record achievements as well as failures

Sir: Thank God for Martyn Lewis ('Not my idea of good news,' 26 April), and may he succeed in getting the voice of sanity heard in the land. Of course we need to be informed of the dire state of the world we live in, but there are so many truly inspired people 'out there' doing positive and caring work at every level, and achieving remarkable results - and we should be aware of this, too.

The unending diet of horror and failure induces a widespread feeling of hopelessness and apathy, and so the vicious circle is perpetuated. Through the powerful scope of the media, we are able nowadays to have knowledge of what is happening in most parts of the globe, but surely we have the right to a fair and balanced picture.

The only laugh that I get at the end of the news is one of stunned disbelief, at the cheerful presentation of undiluted 'rape, pillage and burning' in the region in which I live. East Anglia must have produced something more than the habits of the Vikings.

Yours sincerely,

DIANA ROBINSON

Sudbury, Suffolk

26 April