By Terri LaPoint

“The pen is mightier than the sword,” as the saying goes. There is great power in our words. Words can expose darkness, destroy reputations, or inspire a generation. Words can tear down and they can build up.

News, whether written in a newspaper, spoken by a newscaster on cable tv, or posted as a comment on social media, has the power to influence attitudes and behavior.

Sometimes news can bring out the best in people, such as when news coverage of a natural disaster inspires people to help their neighbors or to donate to help a community rebuild.

Other times news can be wielded as a club to bash and divide. The myriad examples of this are obvious to anyone who is currently drawing breath.

“If you want to avoid negativity, turn off the news,” I heard recently. It is hard to argue with such logic. Almost certainly there would be less division and strife. However, if we shut ourselves away from all media, how would we know what is happening in the world around us?

How could we expect to have any voice in our government or have any hope of holding elected officials accountable if we don’t know what they are doing?

One of the primary reasons that the Founding Fathers secured “Freedom of the Press” in the Bill of Rights was to ensure that the people would have the mechanism to know what government officials are doing so that we could hold them accountable. Without freedom of speech and freedom of the press, there is little hope of restraining tyranny. Access to news from different perspectives is crucial to the concept of liberty.

Welcome to Real News Spark. Our goal is to provide news, real news that has been investigated and vetted, which sparks the readers – you – to make a difference in the world around you.

I realized long ago that I have no interest in reporting news that simply has a sensational headline or that provides mindless entertainment. There are websites galore that do so, but those are not the stories that I want to read myself, nor do I want to report them.

Instead, the news that I want to read, investigate, and report are stories that make a difference in someone’s life and things that truly matter. The core values of Real News Spark can be summed up in the acronymic statement:

Living the FIFTH life!

• F – Family

• I – Injustice exposed. I also stands for Integrity and Inspiration.

• F – Freedom

• T – Truth

• H – Hope and Honor

And Life – Life matters. Whether we are talking about the lives of babies in the womb, children in foster care, or senior citizens in guardianship care, each life is valuable.

News stories reported by Real News Spark reflect these values. Our integrity is not for sale.

Real news must expose the darkness as well as shine light on the good. We hope to inspire readers to get involved and make a difference.

Some articles will contain phone numbers and contact information of legislators that you can call about stories of injustice. Others will highlight people who are living as a spark that has ignited a fire around them.

Whether you make a phone call, write a letter or email, walk the halls of the legislature, provide a meal or a gas card to a hurting family, or fall on your knees to pray, there is always something positive that you can do with the news that you hear or read.

It is clear to me that there are many wonderful people who make a difference every day in the lives around you. There are world changers and history makers who are reading this very article, and you recognize that you were created to impact the world around you for good.

It is time for the news to be something different than business as usual. It is time for real news that sparks all of us to make a difference.

Real News Spark – Real News that sparks people to Make a Difference!