I hear from people often enough — who say they've stopped reading the newspaper because it's full of bad news — to be mindful of the impact that grim headlines day after day can have on readers.

So I was gratified that a recent reader survey for The Advertiser gave us high marks for "good things that are happening in our local area" though deep down we wondered exactly what good news readers were referring to.

In just the past few weeks, our pages have been full of depressing bank bailout news, and the resulting fallout has hurt an already-faltering Hawai'i economy. The state budget is being cut and everything associated with it — most notably schools and services — will suffer. The housing market is down, local businesses are hurting, office vacancies are up, Hawai'i stocks are slumping and if that wasn't bad enough, the mudslinging surrounding national and local elections have hardly been uplifting.

We sometimes go overboard playing up the negative. Leading the paper on Sept. 9 with a story that bankruptcy filings were up 50 percent even though the total number of petitions was 187 was poor placement, as was the June 27 banner story about Bishop Museum laying off 14 people. A Kane'ohe man wrote to say that we write so much negative news on the real estate industry that "I don't think even God would buy a home in Hawaii if he read your paper."

A registered nurse from Kapolei picked up our Sept. 29 edition and noticed something different: All the headlines were positive for the first time in months.

Every other day, she felt bombarded by the negative — "Transit tax revenues falling with economy," "State's visitor industry braces for more bad news," "Isles mired in uncertainty as economy sputters" and "Hawaii Medical will lay off another 50" — and asked that we be aware of what kind of message we are sending to the community, particularly young people.

"What motivation will our high school and college students find to work hard for a brighter future?" she wrote. "As a naturally positive thinking kind of gal, I am very discouraged almost every morning."

As I have argued here before, it is not up to us to sugar-coat the news. The economy is pretty bad out there right now, and it has far-reaching impact on Hawai'i. Our newspaper should reflect what is happening, good or bad, and in better times, we have run our share of Page One stories on record home sales and record-low unemployment. However, we do need to search harder for the news that entertains, amuses and inspires.

Our Kapolei reader left us with the following advice: "Consider using the power of the pen more constructively to uplift readers, give them hope and help the world see more of the great beauty under our daily rainbows," she said.

Who could argue with that?

Mark Platte is senior vice president/editor of The Advertiser. Reach him at 525-8080.