By an order of magnitude, the best source for positive news anywhere on the internet.
Steven Pinker
Why we do this
If it bleeds it leads
It's not just a mantra for tabloid editors anymore. It's a fundamental commercial reality for the media industry. A recent study of 23 million headlines from 47 popular news outlets between 2000 and 2019 the share of headlines denoting anger increased by 104% and the share evoking fear surged by 150%.
In other words, it's not just our imagination: the news has become far more negative. It's making us all feel grim about the present, and hopeless about the future. Pessimism is so deeply ingrained in our media culture that it’s become the default frame imposed on all our realities. It’s not breaking news anymore. It’s broken news.
What if we could fix it?
This newsletter, originally launched as Future Crunch, was founded on the simple idea that another form of journalism is possible. For the past eight years, we’ve made the case that the news can delight and inspire, and our 55,000 readers are evidence that there’s a genuine market for this kind of content.
There is a lot of good news out there, we just don’t hear about it. Not feel-good stories about lost pets, barbershops, and girl scouts, but real, big picture stories of progress for people and the planet.
Our experience shows that most of the mainstream news outlets miss this stuff. Partially because stories about disaster and division get more eyeballs, but also because the nature of progress is slow. It happens over longer time periods - and this doesn't fit the modern media's fast-paced, 24 hour reporting style.
We have to warn you: we are biased. It’s only good news here. Our goal isn't to be a comprehensive news source, but to play our part in mending the wider media ecosystem by being deliberately unbalanced. There are thousands of media organisations that excel at telling you about everything that's going wrong in the world.
We're one of the very few that tell you what's going right.
How do we do this?
We send out two newsletters every week.
Public Edition
This is our free newsletter, which is packed full of stories of progress for people and the planet. Every edition contains around 30 stories, summarised into short, digestible paragraphs, and with a link to sources so you can find out more. It's about a seven minute read - a weekly dose of optimism that will make your inbox feel like a more hopeful place.
You’ll find stories here about the decline or elimination of diseases, medical breakthroughs, falling poverty rates, access to water, electricity and sanitation, human rights milestones, and good news for the environment, from regenerative projects to Indigenous-led conservation and legislative victories for nature and wildlife.
Premium Edition
A paid subscription includes all the content in our free newsletter, as well as additional stories about the clean energy transition, mind-blowing breakthroughs in science and technology, and a weekly roundup of the best bits of the internet. It's about a 12 minute read - a deeper, longer dive that will open your eyes to the full spectrum of human progress.
The real value-add of a premium membership is that a third of our subscription fees go to small, under-the-radar charities. These are the organisations that rarely make it into the media spotlight but are making a real difference at ground level. We feature the stories of our charity partners in the newsletter along with updates and details about how the money is used.
These charity donations are more than just a cherry on top, they’re an essential part of our circular news model: the news gets turned into subscriptions, which turn into action, which leads to more news about how progress is possible.
What to expect
Comprehensive
We're committed to being the world's most wide-ranging source of stories of progress. Our goal is to provide a one-stop shop for anyone interested in what's going right, not just in English-speaking countries, but everywhere.
Authoritative
In an age of disinformation and bias, it's really important to us that the stories we report are reputable and verifiable. We fact-check everything, and our evidence is gold-plated. This project lives and dies on the quality of our sources and our long term reputation.
Curated
Our job is to distill powerful stories of progress into a succinct snapshot that still connects you to the big picture. If we're doing it right, each summary will contain a clear explanation of what the progress is, the impact that it's made, and a timeline of how long it took, and what it took to get there.
Transparent
We're a small team, and we're human. Sometimes we get things wrong. When we do, we’ll call ourselves out and fix it in the following edition. Our readers do an excellent job at keeping us honest.
Inclusive
As part of our commitment to fixing the news, we offer free premium memberships to educators and mental health workers who find this resource useful. If this sounds like you, send us an email.
Who runs this thing?
My name is Angus Hervey. I am a journalist and political economist who grew up in South Africa. I currently live in Melbourne, Australia.
In 2013, I co-founded Future Crunch, a media and thought leadership company. Over the last decade, I've spoken at over 700 events on five different continents, sharing stories of how people are finding solutions to the big challenges of our time. In 2023 and 2024, I opened TED in Vancouver with a wrap up of stories of progress from the past year.
As a news junkie myself, researching and writing this newsletter is my own medicine. One interesting side-effect is that redirecting my focus to what is going right has allowed me to stay with world events when it all goes wrong. A lot of our subscribers use this newsletter in the same way, as a reminder that the news doesn’t just have to be about the mistakes we make; it can also be about the steps we take to fix them.
Fix The News is created by myself and Amy Davoren-Rose, our creative director and podcast producer. Our copy editor and fact-checker is Steph Crabtree. We have also partnered with some incredible organisations who are committed to fixing different parts of the news machine, in a variety of ways.
If you'd like to try a news fix that actually makes you feel better about the world, you can subscribe to our free version here.
What subscribers say
A powerful antidote to the despair that is so often presented in the 24/7 media environment. The collation of stories from around the world of humans showing care and compassion, to people and the environment, as well as amazing technological and scientific breakthroughs unveils hope in our world. The essays articulate profound engagement with the challenges of today and provide thoughtful sounding boards to begin (and continue) discussions with others. Thanks to the team!
Tim Kalmier
I love that I get an email that I WANT to read, I save it up for a time when I can relax with a coffee or glass of wine. Always so interesting, lots of little rabbit holes to go down and learn something new. I particularly like that it is positive and uplifting, the world can seem depressing with horrible events, wars, global warming etc, and I feel so helpless. Reading about people or organisations making huge changes for good in our world is so inspiring. Love love love what you do.
Annie Desantis
If your days are filled with repeat reminders of the evil and pain that humans can wreak on other humans, and you are tired of feeling depressed and disoriented by multiple sensationalized reports of lying, abuse and greed, you need a weekly dose of Fix The News. Let it motivate and inspire you to be part of the solution instead of being overwhelmed by the problem.
David Hunter
One of the most powerful newsletters I've ever come across for challenging my worldview and reminding me that there is no single narrative about the direction we're heading. When I read Fix The News, I'm reminded of Desiderata: "...the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism... And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should."
Kaila Colbin
Fix The News is a massive infusion of clarity and inspiration. It changed my life and still does every time I read it.
Braha Bender
I think it's the one newsletter everyone needs in their inbox and the only one I am happily paying for. It's filled to the brim with hope, and if there's one thing we need these days, it's hope. Unlike other news outlets that make you feel sad to be alive in this age of turmoil, it makes you feel glad to be alive in this age of wonder. To me, Fix The News offers a weekly glimpse at a future I want to be a part of.
Bess Klein
The antidote to the bitter taste of mainstream news. Mainstream news shines a spotlight on the dog poo on the cracked sidewalk, while Future Crunch casts a sunrise glow across the splendid architecture of the City.
Jim Wiggins
Reading Fix The News is like taking a mental health vitamin for anyone who is otherwise paying attention to the world and news. These stories aren’t getting the attention. They deserve in the mainstream. I recommend this over and over to worried idealists.
Edith Buhs
There is no newsletter out there that compares. Each edition is full of news that you simply can’t easily find in mainstream media, with live links for more in-depth reads, but more than all that this newsletter has a soul.
Marian DeSimone
A fantastic synthesis of the hidden good news in the world that is hard for most people to find. The newsletter format is excellent; a sentence or two summarises each piece of information, and you don't have to read more, but if you want to go deeper, there is a link to the original article. The newsletter is always a highlight in my day and never fails to make me feel more optimistic about the world.
Tineke Fancourt
Fix The News is hands-down my favorite source of news. My heart lifts each time I see a new issue pop into my inbox, because I know I'll learn fascinating new things and be inspired by examples of unexpected progress around the globe.
Amelia Hard
Fix The News provides a healthy and much-needed balance to the constant stream of problem-focused information that bombards us. They don’t ignore or minimize our challenges, but show that these challenges are being addressed creatively and effectively all over the globe. This newsletter has been a lifeline over the past few years.
Cindy Morefield
My favourite source of news. Fix The News brings you the good news stories you don’t hear about and gives you the links to their reputable sources. You can keep updated and feel energised and optimistic. It starts my weekend with a smile.
Suri Poulos
Whenever I sit down and read my Fix The News mail I know what’s coming …. A flood of hope, pride and all over feel good about who we are and where we are going.
Lyndsay Finney
In a world increasingly focused on doom-scrolling through the latest tragedies and catastrophes, Fix The News is a beacon of hope and inspiration – documenting technological breakthroughs, economic and political progress and the indomitable power of the human spirit.
Seth Bain
My favourite newsletter I receive. Provides links to thought provoking articles and news that uplifts vs educes anxiety or angst. I try hard to curate the information I intake and I never consider cutting out Fix The News.
Matthew Heffernan
Hopeful yet smart and with the right amount of criticism. No green washing here. Lifts my spirit every week.
Ting-Sheng Liao
Fix The News is the best way to restore your faith in humanity. Whether it's a feel good story about the work of a single nurse, or a the mins blowing statistics of organizations making huge impacts, it's always great to read. I look forward to every edition and it helps levelset me in this chaotic world.
Kevin Cavanagh