Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375) distracted people from the horrors of the plague in Florence by telling them the stories he collected in the Decameron. In this spirit, the philosopher Peter Sloterdijk advocates the right to good news.
“This poetry in the times of the plague demands that one say: La vita è bella, even if the catastrophe-mongers will hear nothing of it. In one of the darkest hours of human history, in which even the Gospel no longer had the power to lessen the oppressive weight of the bad news, the tales take on a para-evangelical function. They spread the good news that despite everything there is still a savoir vivre in the world that promises a new beginning….
“On the hills above Florence, a human right was articulated that is older than any other – the right to news that is better than the state of things, the right to stories that show that the world of intelligence will never be allowed to go to rack and ruin. It is the human right to poetry of beings in need of regeneration. Of those who demand the right to hear news that does not cause one to despair.”
Source: Der Tages-Anzeiger (Switzerland) November 2
Eric Koch’s book, The Weimar Triangle, is available at Indigo-Chapters and in your local bookstore. 
“Cela est bien dit,” répondit Candide, “mais il faut cultiver notre jardin.”
—Voltaire, Candide
Sometimes the only thing better than good news is freedom from all news, good bad or indifferent.
Opera, Hollywood, Bollywood… give me a great story with a happy ending. And damn the facts.