News sources often emphasize negative information, which can harm mood, memory, and mental health. Here, in a study of information seeking and memory conducted during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, we tested an intervention to counter these harms. Participants (N=260) completed a naturalistic information-seeking task, exploring articles in a virtual Newsroom. In the Reflection condition, participants were prompted to pause and reflect on how information made them feel, whereas participants in the No-Reflection condition browsed uninterrupted. On a subsequent memory test, No-Reflection participants were biased to remember negative information and forget positive information, especially when information was surprising or participants were in a negative mood. Crucially, our reflection intervention reduced this negativity bias in memory. Reflection participants showed better memory for positive information, especially if surprising. Overall, we found that a simple intervention—pausing to reflect while reading news—restored balance between positive and negative information in memory.