Who manufactures truth?

A poster at the Chopstix boards pointed me to this interesting critique of the recent Oscar-winning documentary, Bowling For Columbine. It's quite shocking to read how much of the "documentary" was actually staged events, skewed editing, and bias, but on the otherhand, I'm not that surprised. Other opinion writers, from the Wallstreet Journal and Tech Central Station, are similarly outraged at Moore's deception.

If there's one thing I can be thankful for my college education in the Communications department, it's a thorough understanding of how mass media and journalism really function. People would like to believe that there are unbiased news sources; the fact is that most of the major sources of news in the world have strong interests that dictate an inherent bias. I even took class on documentary film and I found the same conclusion in many documentaries: there is bias.

Nothing wrong with bias, as long as it's out in the open and made clear - in complex events, the truth often can sometimes be discovered at the intersection of conflicting viewpoints.


posted by G at 2:58 PM   |

in?scrip?tion (n-skrip-shun)n.
1. The act or an instance of inscribing.
2. Something, such as the wording on a coin, medal, monument, or seal, that is inscribed.
3. A short, signed message in a book or on a photograph given as a gift.
4. The usually informal dedication of an artistic work.
5. Jeremiah 31:33