Concluding from the News

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I’m becoming more aware each day that current news reporting is disseminated with a bias. My son dropped mainstream news when he was in his teens. In my teens I was told that newspapers were prejudiced towards a particular perspective.

Still, I stood with some naivete in the hope that credibility would win out. I still hold to that desire. I desired for news outlets to give both sides (or at least more than one side) to a news event.

Perhaps that is where credibility is being lost in my view. When we carry back (report) a situation to another person, we can merely emphasize our viewpoint. Or we can graciously accept that there are other viewpoints – and include them.

This is where storytelling and reporting differ. Both are essential. A well told story, building upon accepted principles and explained actions, leads to a conclusion. A well reported event, based on a broad understanding and generous sighting of events – helps us glean a conclusion.

Perhaps we have moved from reporting news to having news stories.

Fine . . . as long as we can distinguish between them, and gain our conclusions accordingly.