Never Let the Truth Stand in the Way of a Good Story

BRIEF SUMMARY:

Williams’ essay tells the story of three different writing mindsets: the journalist, the writer, and the teacher, and how Williams knows about all three firsthand. Williams’ journalist self stems from his desire to get into journalism when he was very young. He was always taught “Accuracy, accuracy, accuracy,” yet he wanted to tell his story. He believed that a journalist had the ability to skew the story in a way that reflected them as a writer, as a storyteller. Williams’ voice as a writer was much more liberal; nevertheless, like his role in journalism, he capitalizes upon the importance of the truth. The example he uses is when he writes a story based on real people in his life. Like, with his journalism, he tells a story, his story. The last voice is his voice as an instructor. He tells his students that truth is a social construct and isn’t necessarily objective, jumping off his previous points that it is a writer’s duty to tell his story, going back to both journalism and writing.

All three points touch upon one common idea: that a writer does not just present a story, they tell the story in their own way, even if it means it is not entirely true. The idea of truth is not an objective one; everyone has their truth to tell, and the writer tells his or hers. Both journalists and writers are storytellers; however, it is their differing prerogatives that separate them by title.

This cartoon is a good example from the journalist side of this story, yet it does hold the main idea of the article. Journalists and the media have been known to be synonymous with one another. Their job is to inform the masses, yet nowadays, it is not common to be delivered purely unbiased news. Each journalist, each newspaper, each news station has their own bias and isn’t afraid to complement their story with their own agenda and beliefs. In fact, reporters from the three biggest cable news networks (MSNBC, Fox News, and CNN) have been accused multiple times of pushing their own bias. Williams backs this idea up when he states: “It’s not that people are trying to lie…it is simply that we all construct our perceptions and memories based on our experiences, our desires, and our cultural expectations” (298). Truth is subjective, contrary to popular belief and everyone tells their own, true or not.

 

This image sums up the idea of Williams’ essay very nicely. It is not known who originally said this quote. The quote emphasizes the idea that not everybody will hold the same truth. Each one of us holds our own perspective and sees the world through our own eyes.

MY OWN BELIEFS

In my life, like Williams, I have been taught under the rule that one should always tell the truth. I have grown up believing that there was only one truth. Reading this article put a lot into perspective for me. I never thought of viewing the truth as a social construct, as being subjective, as being a viewpoint. However, I have to say I agree with Williams upon thinking of the media, telling the same story yet a different one. This idea is especially relevant today, being just a year away from electing our forty-fifth president. Many presidential candidates will be telling their truths, and they definitely will not coincide with those of their opponents.

This idea has been important in my writing, personally. When I was in high school, I was not as good of a writer as I was today. My sophomore English teacher was able to hit on the head what I was doing wrong. She pointed out to me that I use too much summary in my papers; I just reiterate ideas. She wanted to see my personal touch in my writings, through my own words and beliefs. In subsequent papers, I offered more analysis and commentary, putting my own skewed view on my assignments. I noticed that I got much better grades than I have before. I have utilized this method in my college papers and have seen my GPA increase more and more. In this case, I was telling my truth, my story. The subject is irrelevant; I have utilized this method in essays about Ronald Reagan and short stories for subsequent English classes, and I have still seen the same positive feedback.

I feel that this subject ties well in our discussion on fiction and that the placement of this article in the semester was apropos. While not always “truth,” fiction is all about telling stories to inform and entertain the masses. This objective is exactly how the journalist, the writer, and the teacher are described by Williams. They offer their wisdom to the world; they tell their stories. Williams’ uses truth in his fictitious story; he bases it on his own experiences, and it is quite obvious to the people who read it. We are storytellers, on both paper and in person, and our truth is our own.

 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. In terms of writing, is there truly such a thing as “unbiased?” Why or why not?
2. Can “truth” exist in fiction? Why or why not?

 

WORKS CITED

Hirschfield, Neal. “Teaching Cops to See.” Smithsonian Magazine. October 2009. Web. 4 Oct 2015.

Williams, Bronwyn. “Never Let the Truth Stand in the Way of a Good Story: A Work for Three Voices.” College English (Jan., 2003) 290-304. Web.