Give us something to live for.

They’re reaching out from SVT News. In a time when the news makes everyone want to shoot themselves in front of the TV, a counterforce is desperately needed. They can’t control all the bad news, but for a while now, they’ve been trying to squeeze in some good stories to end their broadcasts on a positive note. Nothing seems to work.

The entire editorial team is gathered, and the atmosphere is grim.

-Public service should enlighten people, not scare them away or drive them into depression and suicidal thoughts, says the news chief despondently.

-And the segment with three lambs born as triplets on Öland doesn’t save any lives? I wonder.

-No, not even the feel-good story about an old man who fell into his own well and was rescued by his 12-year-old grandchild lifts people’s spirits.

-Because everyone realises that if a half-blind man and some lambs are the only good news of the day, then the world is beyond saving? I summarise.

Nods around the table.

-We don’t know what to do. That’s why we reached out to you. We need someone with a fundamentally positive and hopeful attitude who can help us.

Jesus, I think to myself. Not only do they have the world’s problems on their shoulders, but they’ve also contacted the completely wrong person for the job. They need God, but he’s either dead, a fundamentalist, or very busy covering up some paedophile scandal.

-Satire, I finally say. It’s the only thing that can both inform and make people laugh at the same time. Plus, it has the added bonus of driving regimes and those in power to madness. They can’t stand being laughed at.

-That’s unthinkable. Then we’re no longer objective.

-I’m not saying your Middle East correspondent should report from a humanitarian disaster with castanets in his hands and a laugh track running in the background.

-Thanks, says the news chief, closing his eyes.

-But maybe we can create a positive feeling with the viewers—a sense that we’re going through this crap together? We laugh at the clown in the White House, we watch in amusement as the planet reaches boiling point, we roll our eyes together at the fact that the world’s largest country sacrifices its sons to gain even more land. Together we share the world’s burdens, and somehow, it helps us carry on and dare to believe in a better future.

-This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, says the news chief, standing up. The meeting is over, but I feel a strong need to end it on a positive note.

-Do you know the difference between an optimist and a pessimist? I ask, looking around the room. No one can be bothered to answer.

-The pessimist is better informed, I say. Oddly enough, I don’t even get a smile in return.