For Sears and AOL, Good News Is News

Are you tired of all the depressing headlines every day about bombings, layoffs, and financial collapse? Sears sure is. Its “Life. Well Spent.” ad campaign just doesn’t work next to downbeat stories. What if there was a news site that only ran good news? Well, that wouldn’t really be a news site, but Sears decided to create one anyway in partnership with AOL News. It is called Good News Now, or GNN.

There you will find feel-good stories such as “Senior Couple Ties the Knot,” “Lucky Boy Discovers Seven-Leaf Clover,” and “Tourist Survives Dangerous Train Ride.” Topics you can explore further include “Heroes, Winners,” “Upbeat News,” and “More Good News.” You can barf now.

Of course, the whole site is plastered with ads from Sears. GNN is like a cross between a bad advertorial and a splog. It is what happens when you let advertisers select the news. If you need a reason to save journalism, this is it.

Original post

Comments

[InnocentsAb...:]

I wonder if they would consider selling the site to Time Warner.

Jun 10 05:42 PM

[Thomas Jowers:]

I actually like the idea and I think that there are a niche of people that are always saying that news agencies only cover sad news stories. This site will appeal to them. Will it mean anything to AOL or SHLD's bottom line, probably not.





I own SHLD in my 401 K and I work at Sears where I am a salesman.

Jun 10 10:19 PM

[tomaltoct09:]

Aiello explained, "Most of our holiday promotions are multichannel...If they seek the golden wish ticket and go in-store, we're equally happy...We have to think multichannel; you can't think Friday is only in-store."

Oct 22 08:48 AM