Tom,
I agree with the premise entirely.
I had a problem with the presentation, however. They always start these segments with a bunch of flowery, poetic language, with some music intended to make the watcher feel sentimental. ABC is particularly guilty of this sort of thing. They've been doing this for years.
When I hear the sympathetic music and unnaturally poetic language, I now tend to turn my attention elsewhere. After a couple minutes of this nonsense, I did manage to catch the punch line, which I agree was thoughtful. But I'm really tired of this overly sentimental journalism. And I'm a pretty sentimental guy. I just don't like ABC telling me when to feel that way.