Geri's Blog

Now we know we're HOT. . . The Good News Network made Rolling Stone magazine's Hot List for 2009!

Listing their HOT INTERNET picks on page 89, only two websites are mentioned, with the Good News Network headlined as HOT WISHFUL THINKING.

"Economic meltdown, Shmeconomic shmeltdown," is how the short article begins.

"People want good news now more than ever," says GNN founder Geri Weis-Corbley, who says the site got its biggest traffic spike since 9/11 the day after Lehman Brothers tanked.

The reporter who interviewed me said this issue is always a top seller on news stands, and with Lady GaGa on the cover, this year should be no different.

I hope to use this HOT LIST award to springboard into landing a spot on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and eventually, the Ellen show (which I believe just went on summer break).

1. The website went live on Labor Day weekend in 1997.
2. The biggest spike in traffic occurred on September 11 and Sept. 12, 2001.
3. The second biggest spike in traffic occurred the week in September 2008 following the collapse of Lehman Brothers and other financial institutions.
4. I was described in a Washington Times report as a cross between Deepak Chopra and Ann Landers.
5. Colin Powell sent me a note in 1998 telling me to keep up the good work.
6. In the last decade, three of the top good news stories about the environment were thanks to the Bush Administration: They created the two largest marine preserves in the world and set tougher standards for diesel.
7. Three years ago, I received a donation of $800.00 by a woman named Dinah in Murphy, North Carolina.
8. I was a panelist on a BBC World Service discussion about government's potential for using good news as a way to white wash the truth.
9. For six years I published an 8-page printed newsletter for around 100 subscribers -- mostly family and friends -- which was distributed free to prisons, a juvenile detention center and homeless shelter. Download the September 11, 2001 Commemorative edition in PDF.
10. I first had the idea for a Good News Network TV show in 1982, my first summer working in TV news in Washington, DC.
11. You can find all the good news stories that took place on your birthday using my ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY column on the front page.
12. GNN-i has never made a profit but, has never stopped trying. For instance, we sell "GOOD HAPPENS " designs on bumper stickers, tees, hoodies, bibs and tote bags at CafePress.com/goodnewsnetwork.
13. A survey of 687 users of the Good News Network in April, 2008 revealed that 67 percent would pay for the content.
14. After more than ten years of giving away the Website content for free, the Good News Network transitioned to a membership site on May 11, 2008.
15. 26 percent of subscription purchasers so far have chosen to voluntarily pay more than the minimum amount under our "Pay what you can afford" policy (choosing either $47.00 or $97.00, instead of the lower option of $24.00 - for the same benefits).
16. I was a stay-at-home mom when I created the website with kids ages 7, 5 and 3. Today the kids are 18, 15 and 13.
17. The Good News Network has been featured in Women's World, The Washington Post, Newsday, Whole Life Times, American Journalism Review, and the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
18. The most helpful motivation for me in starting the Network came from a series of ten lessons based on Mary Manin Morrissey's book Building Your Field of Dreams.
19. GNN-i retains the #1 position on Google (for searches of "good news") thanks to thousands of incoming links from pages around the internet.
20. The first story ever submitted by a reader was written by my mother-in-law, about a dog saving a puppy in a drain pipe. The September 1997 story, entitled Annie to the Rescue, can still be found in our Archives.
21. CNN founder Ted Turner told me in 2006 that he thought a good news program could be successful. (Why he didn't succeed with such a segment, when they produced it early-on for CNN, remains a mystery.)
22. Made on a Mac for 12 years.
23. We have a YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/goodnewsnetwork 
24. We Twitter and Skype with the username, geriwc.
25. My wonderful English webmaster lives in Spain (Andrew Hemming of Footprint Media).

I wanted to preserve the poll results from last week asking ou viewers whether they thought the Hudson River plane crash was good news and belonged here, or not. The results might make you wonder...

I would welcome a Hudson River rescue story/video on the site... 72%

I'd rather not see the story about surviving a plane crash... 15%

Not sure... 13%

But, it doesn't surprise me. I am used to this, after 11 years. It is a very narrow range of story that EVERYONE can agree is "good news"

Were you surprised by these numbers? 

Join the Good News Network community on Inauguration Day for a special radio call-in show! I've booked notable celebrity guests -- like Kal Penn -- to call in throughout the day to record their reactions to the historic Inaugural speech.

The 90 min. live broadcast, to include taped phone conversations with political and news celebs, will air on BlogTalkRadio between 8:30-10:00pm Eastern time Tuesday night.

The listener dial-in number is (646) 716-8883. Skype your calls from around the world! (Skype me: GeriWC)

Come join the GNN community talking about this wonderful moment in American history...

Kal Penn, is an American actor and producer who has starred in The Namesake and several comedies including the Harold & Kumar series. He currently plays Dr. Lawrence Kutner on the series House. The candidacy of Barack Obama drew him into politics for the first time, to campaign in Iowa and Ohio during the primaries and general election.