I've been writing journalism stories (mostly sports) for more than three decades and I can say for certain the No. 1 question I and my colleagues heard was: "Why are there so many negative stories in the media? Can't you write more positive stories?"

OK, that's two questions, but you get the point. People, perhaps on their high horses, want media to write more positive stories.

Or do they?

There's an old saying in journalism -- if it bleeds, it leads.

And the reason for that is that people don't really want to hear happy stories. They want stories of murder, of family unrest, of tragedy.

People invariably want to hear about how things are way worse somewhere else.

Because I've been mostly a sports writer all these years, I have been able to write mostly positive stories -- men overcoming long odds, rising from the ashes, underdogs and upsets, that sort of thing.

But occasionally I've had to write stories of tragedy, violence or controversy.

And these stories are incredibly popular.

It's like the old Don Henley song "Dirty Laundry" says: "People love it when you lose, they love dirt laundry."

So, it's come to this. We see negative news all day everyday on the news websites we frequent, but there's a different news site out there.

It's called veraverba.com.

On this website, only positive stories are published. Right now there's a story about a man who holds a stranger's hand because she was terrified of flying, a ballet dancer who wears her tutu around poor neighborhoods to inspire young people and a story about a man who received a heart transplant from a dying father, then stood in for the deceased man at his daughter's wedding.

Let the litmus test begin. Will people who claim they want positive news go to this site? Will it survive in the cutthroat world of web news?

I hope it does. I plan on visiting it daily.

But I have my doubts.

"Kick 'em when they're up
Kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're up
Kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're up
Kick 'em when they're down

Kick 'em when they're stiff
Kick 'em all around."

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