Every morning, the headlines tell a familiar story. A story not of isolated hardship, but of a nation increasingly confronted by the ordinary face of suffering.

A woman sweeps the streets for a plate of food. A mother pushes the lifeless body of her child in a supermarket trolley because help arrived too late. Families skip meals as the prices of basic goods continue to climb while wages remain stagnant. Young graduates wander the streets with qualifications in hand but no opportunity in sight.

These stories are painful to read. They are even more painful to live with.

Predictably, some accuse the media of dwelling on negativity. Yet newspapers do not manufacture misery. Journalists do not script hunger, unemployment or desperation. They merely shine a light on realities that already exist, often in the hope that those entrusted with power will act.

What is perhaps most unsettling is not that these stories exist, but that they are becoming increasingly common in a country blessed with extraordinary natural wealth. This paradox should trouble every policymaker.

It is tempting to respond to growing hardship by expanding assistance programmes. There will always be a place for social grants. A compassionate society must protect its elderly, its disabled, vulnerable children and those genuinely unable to fend for themselves. Social protection is an essential pillar of any civilised nation.

But social protection cannot become a substitute for economic production. No nation has ever subsidised itself into prosperity. Sustainable wealth is created when people work, produce, innovate and earn incomes through thriving enterprises.

The headlines should not become an endless catalogue of suffering. They should increasingly tell stories of people finding work, businesses expanding, communities prospering and families reclaiming hope. The press will continue reporting hardship where it exists. That is its duty.