Well, there might have been a certain amount of irony, after all, one of my
favorite books is The First Casualty, and as I recall, one of the first real
journalist heros (not any oxymoron) was a British fellow who had the temerity
to actually report on conditions in the Crimea. And then there was my
countryman, Ernie Pyle (never mind that I thought the most truthful journalist
ever was actually a cartoonist, Bill Mauldin).
But as a rule, situations are so complicated, and causes and effects so
numerous, no journalist, no matter how courageous, can possibly get it
right--though some can get close, and some might even point you in the right
direction. There's just too much to sort through, and too much to leave out.
And, having met a few myself, you also have to keep in mind that people who
throw themselves into harm's way to "get the truth out" often do so with an
agenda of their own, or at least a point of view that might be currently in
vogue, but may not stand the test of history.
It has nothing to do with heroics, but I recall covering city council meetings
where I had to distill three hours of heated discussion into less than 20
inches of type. (That's about 52 centimeters for you more progressive types.
<g>) Lots of good stuff left out. No substitute for being there. Plenty of
space for clear distortion by readers whose reading comprehension level rivaled
those of kindergartners. (See Chris Crawford's posts on higher education.) I
used to marvel at hearing people tell me what I reported, and wondered if
they'd stumbled into my world from some alternate universe.
On a related note, for anyone who has read this far, I _Highly Recommend_ a
book, Painter of Battles, by Arturo Perez-Reverte, a Spanish writer. It's
fiction, but closer to the truth than any piece of journalism.
--Bob Whitmire
Despite Being American, Irony is My Middle Name
www.bobwhitmire.com
On Nov 8, 2010, at 12:44 AM, Chris Barker wrote:
> Hmm, that might be the case in the US, Bob (although I doubt it), but there
> are a fair few pretty good writers to brave nasty conditions to report the
> truth. I don't mean, of course, "embedded" reporters as in the invasion of
> Iraq in 2003 (great adventure!), but those who risk personal attack to go in
> dangerous places.
>
> I am, of course, assuming a lack of irony in your message :-)
--
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