News never, ever, comes down from the sky. Neither is news a random account of random events. News, as most of us in Malaysia by now have become painfully aware, is a social construction. And what constitutes news and what does not in Malaysia - as anywhere else - depends on the power structures in society.

And if you don't believe that, just ask A Kadir Jasin, or the many Malaysian mainstream editors who, in this connection, refuse to discuss in their papers the sudden end of someone who up until a week ago was considered the most powerful media editor in Malaysia.

So, since news is a social construction, invariably one then begins to understand the emergence of different genres or types of news.

Today let's look at the rudimentaries of a news genre that came into its own at the onset of the economic crisis a couple of years ago. It is a genre that has remained ever since in the fast-shrinking bag of tricks utilised by local mainstream journalists to make us feel proud to be Malaysians, to remind us that we have a lot to be grateful for. We are talking, of course, about "feel good" ("FG") news.

There are, to be sure, different types of FG news, only three of which are looked at here. The first is the "slap-you-in-the face" type, which is meant to jolt you out of your depression and literally force you to believe that you can do what has never been done. Such stories often follow in the wake of incessant - and often trite - slogans like "Bullish on bouncing back".

And in this category would be all those nonsensical stories about, say, the biggest chapati ever created, the tallest building ever constructed, ad nauseum. These stories are meant to make you weep with joy and, of course, pride. You are also supposed to disregard the fact that you, the taxpayer, often end up footing the bill for these exploits.

Unfortunately for the spin-doctors, however, oftentimes the ambitious attempt backfires - and the slap becomes a spit in the face. So, instead of being the first Asian to parachute jump over the South Pole, for example, you then claim to be the first to jump over the Antarctic - because your jump was actually 1,800 km away from the South Pole!

Or, better still, when you fail dismally to circumnavigate the globe in record time - despite help from the Navy, mind you - you quickly change course and claim to be the first to circumnavigate the globe in a particular direction.

And, in the process, of course, the media quickly - and conveniently - suffers from amnesia, forgets the original aim and hails this as a "great", "momentous" achievement. And if some spoilsport goes and spills the beans and reveals that the achievement wasn't so great after all, in the spirit of FG, the media invariably tucks such revelations in the inside pages, better still as a filler.

The second category of FG news comprises claims that "you-have-never-had-it-so-good". Often crass and terribly unsubtle, the authors of these stories simply love to make dubious comparisons between our achievements and those of our less fortunate neighbours. Here we put ourselves on a pedestal and tend to be condescending towards "others", principally non-Malaysians. We are urged to hang our heads high, to take pride, to feel a warm glow, in purportedly being the best.

Makes you wonder though why on Earth, if we really were great, we should compare ourselves with the less fortunate instead of those who are doing better than us.

Be that as it may, the "let's-get-together-and-unite-against-a-common-outside-enemy" news item represents the third variant of FG news. This one appeals to a community - often more imagined than real - under seige, seemingly united by a common factor, like race or religion.

In this scenario, "we" are the potential victims, threatened by evil outside forces, determined to corrupt "us", hell-bent on destroying "us", "our" culture, and the very fabric of our society. Invariably, "we" are "right" and "they" (those outside our community) are the wrongdoers out to harm us, to split us up.

And, of course, the best, possibly only, way "we" can fight back is by bandying together, with one common purpose, that of saving our beloved homeland. Enough to bring patriotic tears to your eyes, wouldn't you say?

Of course, for FG news to work, supporting props need to be put in place. For instance, when there's an economic crisis that wreaks havoc on your currency, many newspapers - and even television stations - are "advised" to "reformulate" the currency exchange rates.

Hence, when previously you would get a rate like 1 pound sterling = 6.34 ringgit, you now get it written the other way around, instantaneously confusing you and often making you not want to bother to check whether the value of the ringgit is falling or rising.

And similar other barometers supposedly indicating good news - like a fast-climbing KLSE Composite Index - need to be positioned strategically, preferably on the cover page and under bold headlines.

It's all propaganda, of course. And, thank heavens, thus far much of it is such crude, unimaginative propaganda which make the creators of these "news" stories look like utter ninnies. However, there is certainly a need for us all to be ever vigilant and critical as such "stories" become more slickly produced and believable.