Democracy's Demolition Derby

Whenever I hear people complain about "finding the truth" or the "bias in mainstream media" it's usually because that truth or bias does not reflect their own beliefs....and so it goes with everyone across the spectrum. Today there was a nice column in the Washington Post by Robert Samuelson regarding the media, the search for objectivity and the messiness of democracy.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/27/AR2009122701715.html

Democracy's demolition derby

By Robert J. Samuelson
Monday, December 28, 2009; A15

It's been an education, my four decades in Washington journalism: an anniversary that prompts this personal reflection. In 1969, I arrived as a young newspaper reporter. Journalism appealed to me because it offered an excuse to learn about how things worked -- to satisfy my curiosity -- and provided an antidote to shyness. It was a license to ask people questions. I have never regretted my decision, in part because I always doubted I could do anything else. I wasn't smart enough to be an engineer and would have been a lousy lawyer, chafing at representing other people's beliefs. The pursuit of truth seemed a higher calling.

This was a common conceit among journalists of my generation. We would reveal what was hidden, muddled or distorted. The truth would set everyone free. It sustained good government. We were democracy's watchdogs and clarifiers. One thing I learned is that these satisfying ideas are at best simplifications -- and at worst illusions. Truth comes in infinite varieties; every story can have many narratives. There are always new facts, and sometimes today's indisputable fact qualifies or rebuts yesterday's. ..........