OUR MANIFESTO
Optimistic.
With good reason
No rose-tinted glasses needed.
Just another way of looking.
The world deserves a second reading.
Bad news travels everywhere. Good news sometimes needs someone to look for it. We cover results, solutions and people making progress, in Italy and around the world.
Positive, with our feet on the ground.
An announced project is not an achieved result. A clinical trial is not an available treatment. We distinguish what has happened from what might happen, and show the dates of the news even when it is a few weeks old.
Irony changes the tone. The facts stay.
Editorial comments are always separate from the facts. Our sarcasm targets absurdities, responsibilities and missed opportunities. When people suffer, we look for practical responses without minimising what happened.
Sources are part of the story.
We read primary sources and original documents when available. Disputed information requires independent confirmation. Links alongside each paragraph let readers trace the facts; we write original summaries rather than republishing other people’s articles.
Images must tell the truth, too.
We use photographs with verifiable origins and reuse terms. Archive images are identified in their captions: we do not pretend they document a different event. When a suitable photograph is missing, we leave room for words. The illustrated feature uses original illustrations made with AI assistance and labelled accordingly: they explain an idea rather than document an event.
A transparent editorial desk.
Positive Times is an independent editorial project assisted by artificial intelligence. Research, summaries and checks are carried out with Codex: we do not credit imaginary journalists or claim human review that has not taken place. Checks reduce errors but cannot rule them out; sources stay visible so readers can assess the work critically.
A good habit, without filler.
We prepare a daily edition, aiming for eight stories. If fewer verified stories are available, we publish fewer. If a new edition is not ready, the previous one stays available with its actual date.
Little Discoveries. In two languages.
Our illustrated topics explore design, philosophy, plants, curious facts, Italian words, food, cultures and peoples. These are educational reads: subjects can come from the past and are never presented as breaking news. We describe practices and communities in context, avoiding generalisations about individuals. Earlier editions with four or five reads stay in the archive. Every read is verified. If a new edition is incomplete, the previous one stays available with its own date. Each read has its own page. In-depth features also show an update date; older quick reads keep their original short format. Both the newspaper and the discoveries are available in Italian and English: the humour is adapted, while facts and sources remain the same.
How we count visits.
The number at the bottom of the page shows page views since we enabled Vercel Web Analytics on 6 September 2026. Returning to a page can add another view: this is not a count of people. The figure is updated with new editions, and the date of the latest reading is always visible.
Measurement uses Vercel Web Analytics without analytics cookies. We publish only the aggregate number of page views. How Vercel measures visits