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In Reply to: Re: Journalistic responsibility posted by Reader/Writer on October 15, 2007 at 15:27:08:
I guess I have a "beef"with the wording "fact"...
if in court you crosscheck the testimonies of witnesses you can generate "yourself" or others sometimes some problems, as with time the memory seems to fade...what they have seen or not seen & in the end you might not be able to use someones testimony for or against something...is it also in the multitude of witnesses etc.. that you/we "like"to establish a truth?...hopefully the multitude wasn't involved in some sort of hype...recently I read in the newspaper, that some Indian kids refused to go back to school, as they saw things which frightened them...type of haunted premises etc... so what do you do with
collective"memories" as those...you just state it as they say...as opinions or facts?If someone gives an account of something you haven't seen yourself...when does it become a fact??
I'd agree, that crosschecking helps, but I'd venture to say, thatit's not the cure in all situations & I'd further say, it's probably enough for the exercommunity & their accounts!?!
Sorry, for rambling about it...may be I see so little "factual accounts" in life or rather not enough, that I am oversensitive whenever I hear that word...
