Are rising grain prices a piece of good news or bad news? Well, a People's Daily editorial on October 27 concluded that rising prices are "by no means bad news".

Since last month, reduced grain production has caused a steady rise in the prices of rice, flour, edible oil, meat, eggs, and non-staple foods.

The reduction was partly blamed on indiscriminate industrial expansion which steadily eroded the already limited farmland.

Just in case you, like me, still fail to be bolstered in spirit: the article said that the widespread grain price hikes was nothing short of a "shot in the arm" in terms of agricultural development, for "it drives home to us that there is no stability to speak of without security in grain production. This stability contributes not only to rural stability, but also to increased farming incomes and the steady development of the national economy in general."

Well, I have to confess that the writer's argument is logically, or rather sophistically, sustained for philosopher Lao Zi taught us thousands of years ago that "good fortune lieth within bad, bad fortune lurketh within good."

But is it still possible to have explicitly bad, or negative, news?

It was reported that as of last Wednesday morning, 19 firefighters had been killed while battling a building fire in Hunan Province, and rescuers were still searching for one still buried in the rubble.

Tragic, to a degree, but might it not turn out to be a blessing in disguise as the fire awareness of the locals is heightened?

The underlying motives for the adoption of a positive slant are many.

One obvious reason is the attempt on the part of the media at self-regulation, to avoid running afoul of their watchdog(s).

Another is a sheer stratagem to impress, to shock the readers out of the lethargy induced by habitual media mediocrity.

A few days ago I read in the local press a report entitled: "There are already no xiagang (laid-off) workers in the city (Shanghai)".

Those familiar with the skills of media operators immediately realized this was yet another trick played on the meaning of xiagang (government departments make a point of sharply distinguishing the xiagang from the jobless).

Such attempts at whitewashing, at casting a story in a favourable light, often mislead, rather than help explain properly the situation to the readers. The disappearance of xiagang workers is small solace to the millions of jobless who remain helpless.

Let's return to the grain price hikes. In my opinion the hikes only dramatize government failure, over the years, to protect fast-dwindling farmland resources. Admittedly the government routinely issued circulars or guidelines to curb excessive, wasteful use of farmland, but it is high time we assessed how these circulars and guidelines are being attended to.

The writer also failed to remark that a substantial proportion of peasants are exactly among those worst affected by the price increases.

It is apparent that many so-called peasants have become grain buyers themselves now that a growing number of them are either landless or have stopped growing grain for economic reasons.

Some farmers may profit, temporarily, but it is easy to guess that farming will become more expensive.

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