ANANALYSIS
BY
REMULAK MOXARGON
(Supreme Ruler of the Known Universe)
(Supreme Ruler of the Known Universe)
Greetings puny Earthlings.
A piece on Huff & Puff Post was brought to my attention. It was written by a 'journalist' named Penelope Trunk, and the main crux of her argument is that it is okay for journalists to misquote people.
Her argument is that the journalist isn't really interested in the story the person is telling them, but only cares about the story they want to tell the public.
Little does little Penelope know she's just exposed the dirty little secret of the mainstream press.
They don't believe in the existence of TRUTH.
That's right. The very same people who have supposedly dedicated their lives to telling the world the facts don't actually believe in facts.
Barbara Walters pretty much said it at Peter Jennings' funeral where she declared that what made him a great journalist was that he "didn't believe in truth."
Okay, everybody has different opinions of what 'truth' really is. The old cliche that there are two sides to every story, but former Paramount honcho Robert Evans was way more accurate when he said that there were three.
Those three sides are:
1- Your Version
2- Their Version
3- The Truth
Fox Mulder was right, the truth is out there, you just have to find it. But you're not going to find anything if you don't believe in its existence.
It is the job of the journalist to look at both sides of an issue and to try to sift through the various versions to see where the truth is hanging its hat. And key to performing that task is ACCURATELY QUOTING THE PEOPLE THEY TALK TO.
But Mrs. Trunk doesn't think that's important and offers this advice:
The journalist is paid to report on the facts in evidence around them, that means taking down the stories of all involved as accurately as possible and piecing together what the real truth may be. It's like a cop who declares on the stand that the accused confessed to being the Zodiac Killer, The Lindbergh Baby and the starter of the great fire of London, and when the defense lawyer says that it never happened, the detective responds by saying: "So what, it fits my story."
People who get paid to tell their own stories are called 'novelists' or 'fiction writers,' or are writing 'memoirs' not journalism.
We live in the age of 'fake but accurate' journalism, and even though Penelope Trunk advises her fellow journalists to not be 'arrogant' to think that they don't misquote people. Most journalists know they're misquoting people, and fiddling with the facts and are doing it deliberately and more brazenly every day.
Why do journalists do this?
Because we do each have a story.
However, the current crop of MSM hacks all have the same story.
As I keep preaching, the Leftist Mind believes in one thing, and that is the meta-narrative that the only evil is White Christian American Societal evil, everyone else is just a victim.
That's why journalists are less popular than lepers. If they don't at least believe that there is something out there called 'truth' and that they are looking for it, and not trying to espouse some lame agenda, what's the good of them?
So, let's see how Mrs. Trunk feels about being quoted as accurately as my personal story demands. The following quote is as accurate and real as she likes them to be. Enjoy:
A piece on Huff & Puff Post was brought to my attention. It was written by a 'journalist' named Penelope Trunk, and the main crux of her argument is that it is okay for journalists to misquote people.
Her argument is that the journalist isn't really interested in the story the person is telling them, but only cares about the story they want to tell the public.
Little does little Penelope know she's just exposed the dirty little secret of the mainstream press.
They don't believe in the existence of TRUTH.
That's right. The very same people who have supposedly dedicated their lives to telling the world the facts don't actually believe in facts.
Barbara Walters pretty much said it at Peter Jennings' funeral where she declared that what made him a great journalist was that he "didn't believe in truth."
WTF?
Okay, everybody has different opinions of what 'truth' really is. The old cliche that there are two sides to every story, but former Paramount honcho Robert Evans was way more accurate when he said that there were three.
Those three sides are:
1- Your Version
2- Their Version
3- The Truth
Fox Mulder was right, the truth is out there, you just have to find it. But you're not going to find anything if you don't believe in its existence.
It is the job of the journalist to look at both sides of an issue and to try to sift through the various versions to see where the truth is hanging its hat. And key to performing that task is ACCURATELY QUOTING THE PEOPLE THEY TALK TO.
But Mrs. Trunk doesn't think that's important and offers this advice:
If you do an interview with a journalist, don't expect the journalist to be there to tell your story. The journalist gets paid to tell her own stories which you might or might not be a part of. And journalists, don't be so arrogant to think you are not "one of those" who misquotes everyone. Because that is to say that your story is the right story. But it's not. We each have a story. And whether or not someone actually said what you said they said, they will probably still feel misquoted.Here's where I have problems with her advice.
The journalist is paid to report on the facts in evidence around them, that means taking down the stories of all involved as accurately as possible and piecing together what the real truth may be. It's like a cop who declares on the stand that the accused confessed to being the Zodiac Killer, The Lindbergh Baby and the starter of the great fire of London, and when the defense lawyer says that it never happened, the detective responds by saying: "So what, it fits my story."
People who get paid to tell their own stories are called 'novelists' or 'fiction writers,' or are writing 'memoirs' not journalism.
We live in the age of 'fake but accurate' journalism, and even though Penelope Trunk advises her fellow journalists to not be 'arrogant' to think that they don't misquote people. Most journalists know they're misquoting people, and fiddling with the facts and are doing it deliberately and more brazenly every day.
Why do journalists do this?
Because we do each have a story.
However, the current crop of MSM hacks all have the same story.
As I keep preaching, the Leftist Mind believes in one thing, and that is the meta-narrative that the only evil is White Christian American Societal evil, everyone else is just a victim.
That's why journalists are less popular than lepers. If they don't at least believe that there is something out there called 'truth' and that they are looking for it, and not trying to espouse some lame agenda, what's the good of them?
So, let's see how Mrs. Trunk feels about being quoted as accurately as my personal story demands. The following quote is as accurate and real as she likes them to be. Enjoy:
I was a liar, I fell in love with lying when I was a delusional, lunatic toddler and taught dance lessons to recruiters.That's all for now, keep watching the skies, because we're watching you.
4 comments:
Hi. I think you mix up facts and story. You can get all the facts right and still tell a story that someone doesn’t agree with.
Journalists get to decide what stories to tell. That’s why blogging is such a big deal. Because it used to be that mainstream media had a lock on the stories. Now any blogger with a decent following can have a big audience for the stories he or she wants to tell.
The facts are a commodity online – each of us can find them very easily in press releases and research paper. People who pick the interesting stories to tell – about the facts --are the ones who have the audience to hear them.
Penelope
Nice to see you trolling the Huffington Post!
Ah! What we have here is re-definition a classic rhetorical gambit much used by the left.
Ahem! A fact is not what you find sliming around on the internet to make your point. Very little on the internet represents fact.
Opinion we have and plenty of it, but facts? Most discussions are woefully short on solid evidence, facts.
Facts are one of the reasons a report is (supposed to be) really careful to get quotes correct.
When I took Journalism (about a million years ago) "All the President's Men" was all the rage. Everybody wanted to be an investigative reporter. This was good.
But even Woodward et.al. at the time were very careful to get quotes correct along with attribution.
My class was told that we would not be popular as reporters, because the truth (FACTS) often hurts and violates people's personal belief systems.
It seems to me that today, reporters will do whatever is needed to be popular - rather than correct....
Rob - The college reporter, who left that world in a hurry.
Both the left and the right abuse facts don't make this a "leftist" issue.
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