Former Austin news anchors start new project focused on telling positive stories
ATX Good News is posting stories several times per week that all follow three rules: keep it positive, no politics and no profanity, hate speech or bullying.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Who doesn't like some good news?
That's the thought behind a new venture former Austin news anchors Leslie Rhode and Judy Maggio debuted on social media and YouTube earlier this year.
ATX Good News is posting stories several times per week that all follow three rules: keep it positive, no politics and no profanity, hate speech or bullying.
"We think we’re living through kind of a humanitarian and health crisis," said Maggio, a former anchor at KVUE and KEYE. "We wanted to focus on our collective compassion. Kind of cultivate compassion, and focus on news where people are spreading love and kindness rather than fear and divisiveness."
The pair said positive stories are easy to find, and they're starting to get a stream of tips into their email ATXgoodnews@gmail.com.
"It could be a nonprofit, a church, a business, all the way down to one individual doing some kindness to love his or her neighbor," said Rhode, who anchored evening newscasts at KXAN.
Maggio and Rhode said they were inspired by John Krasinski's Some Good News, which started posting positive news stories on YouTube at the start of the pandemic.
However, rather than focusing on stories nationwide, the two are staying local.
"We became friends automatically when we both sort of left the full-time news business," Rhode said. "We wanted to tell news stories, but we thought the community really needed a focus on some uplifting, inspiring stories, so that’s how it was born."
Each Friday the two shoot a live show, streaming from their homes, recapping some of the highlights of the week.
They also are making an effort to get out into the community to seek out positive stories, rather than relying solely on viewer-generated content.
"I think if people recognized the goodness happening in their community, I think it would inspire them to go volunteer or start something on their own," Maggio said.
"We have found that there’s no lack of good news in this community, absolutely not," Rhode said.