Writing: Accepting the Truth

“An author – whether novelist, essayist, or poet – should write out of the richest possible mix: a mix that should by all means include a keen awareness of the main forces at play in the world. The writer’s mind is, or should be, a kind of burning lens that bends inward and brings to a white-hot focus a great variety of previously unconnected facts, experiences, and impressions.

“The wider the cone of rays he brings to that focus, the more heat, light, and penetrating power he is likely to generate.”

– Norman Cousins, Writer's Digest, January 1970

As a teacher of composition at a local high school, I subscribed to two essential truths in writing – (1) an “inner truth” – being honest within your own perspective and writing “what you know” and (2) an “outer truth” – being consistent with that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality.

I understand “the truth” is subjective; however, the facts are not. Facts are concrete, and writers use them as the foundation to build their story. Much of the beauty in writing is in the candor. This sincerity is a hallmark of all writing, but especially pertinent in journalistic composition.

In their book, The Elements of Journalism, Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel identify the essential principles and practices of journalism …

“Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth. Good decision-making depends on people having reliable, accurate facts put in a meaningful context. Journalism does not pursue truth in an absolute or philosophical sense, but in a capacity that is more down to earth.”

All truths – even the laws of science – are subject to revision, but we operate by them in the meantime because they are necessary and they work,” Kovach and Rosenstiel write in the book. Journalism. They understand a writer thus seeks “a practical and functional form of truth.” It is not the truth in the absolute or philosophical or scientific sense but rather a pursuit of “the truths by which we can operate on a day-to-day basis.”

Good writers strive to put the public interest – and the truth – above their own self-interest or assumptions. Thus, to writers, telling the truth is “not just getting facts right”; moreover, they must “affirm moral truths about human existence.” Writing gains power as it affirms this often elusive veracity.

“Needless to say, with such new power comes new obligations. Anyone who writes well but dishonestly will be like a child flipping levers at random on the command console at a missile base. More than ever before, a dishonest but superficially persuasive article or TV essay will have a perhaps unimaginably bad effect.

– Norman Cousins, Writer's Digest, January 1970

As the actual process of writing resembles a Möbius strip, a sense-defying continuous loop of conscious and unconscious activity, any writer of truth trusts his or her words to find an audience, traditionally a group seeking honesty and verification.

Today, unfortunately, that audience has been tainted by a news media and a government entwined in a vicious circle of mutual manipulation, myth-making, and self-interest. Paul H. Weaver, a former political scientist at Harvard University and journalist at Fortune magazine, says in his provocative analysis entitled “News and the Culture of Lying: How Journalism Really Works” …

“The two institutions have become so ensnared in a symbiotic web of lies that the news media are unable to tell the public what is true and the government is unable to govern effectively.”

This entanglement is visible to any observer. While partisan politicians care less about the truth than about their own narcissistic needs, the public feels an obligation to choose which “truth” is more believable. Both conservatives and liberals rely on biased media companies to filter the facts and twist the stories to meet their expectations.

Propaganda predates the written word, and all intelligent and caring humans must deal with sorting out the truth from the lies, but the current indoctrination of division by high-ranking officials is very troubling. Journalist and author I. F. Stone once said, “All governments lie, but disaster lies in wait for countries whose officials smoke the same hashish they give out.”

The popular concept of fake news has been defined as “news, stories or hoaxes created to deliberately misinform or deceive readers.” Usually, these stories are created to either influence people’s views, push a political agenda, or cause confusion. A profit motive is often the reason for such deception. Of course now the internet and social media have dramatically changed the ways fake news is created and spread.

This brings me to a simple observation about writing in the 21st century: Facts you don't like are not fake news.

Critical thinking is essential while seeking truth. Research like that of Bente Kalsnes

of the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at Oxford University has found “countering fake news addresses the multitude of approaches to detect and combat fake news on different levels, from legal, financial, and technical aspects to individuals’ media and information literacy and new fact-checking services.” Skills of detection increase a person's understanding of the truth.

Still, most people take too little time to think critically as they prefer to match their own beliefs with any proposal of proof – fake or not – from partisan sources. In this apparent fog of dissemination, one thing remains a constant obligation. That is this – a person must accept facts (truth) even in the face of his or her bitter denial. Refusal to receive and give credence to facts only adds to the deceit eroding the noble and common conscience. Likewise, refusal to accept the truth demeans the contribution of any good writer attempting to shed light on the world.

“Shocking writing is like murder: the questions the jury must decide are the questions of motive and intent.”

– E.B. White, winner of the National Medal for Literature
and Presidential Medal of Freedom awards