Once upon a time, in a faraway city of dreams, innovation and fast-paced delivery, a bright-eyed entrepreneur launched a newspaper packed from front to back with good news.

Ideas come quickly in New York. So does failure. The good news experiment was a flop, quickly flipping into the innovation dustbin. Fast forward to today and a question that is oft pointed at editors, including me: why is there so much bad news in your newspapers and on your websites? Firstly, perception is not reality – my titles carry very many positive, joyous, news and feature stories, often focusing on life in the great counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.

Secondly, bad news does attract a strong reader interest. The stories often which dominate the statistics on our websites – chosen by readers and not imposed by an editor – are those detailing crime issues, accidents and fires. To me it is about balance – neither one, nor the other dominating. Having written that, I am trying to bring more and more inspirational stories – and more fun – into the columns of the EDP. Take this week and the story of Beetley couple Eileen and Ron Everest which made trade press and national newspaper headlines after it appeared in the EDP. Trade headlines because we had led the front page with an extraordinary love affair which has lasted a whole lifetime. To some it could have been a routine anniversary story. I decided a supremely uplifting story needed to be liberated from pages deep within the EDP. National headlines came because – as is often the case – Fleet Street titles canter in well behind titles like the EDP. Good to see our news sense copied in other places.

Happiness and joy was abundant in this week's ship christening by the Duchess of Cambridge of the gleaming new liner Royal Princess in Southampton. I took a distant picture of Kate and her gleaming face, amongst the colourful ticker-tape. It was a picture of expectation and excitement. I was there as a guest of East Anglia's Children's Hospices – our wonderful charity which brings smiles and all-encompassing care in the most difficult of circumstances. And so, we had a happy page in yesterday's paper – and wish the world's most famous expectant mum all the very best for the arrival of baby in the next few weeks. When it comes to fun in our columns, this is my thinking... the world isn't a grey, dull, humourless place. Far from it – we are blessed with the ability to seek and have fun and adventure at every turn. So tell me of your happy and funny stories and I'll try to share them with our other readers.

Follow me on twitter at @Nigel_Pickover

Next week – your community and a chance for a large chunk of community cash

First published on June 15, 2013