Photo by Thom Milkovic
Most of us are familiar with the Blind Men and the Elephant story. Its point is twofold:
- No one has a complete picture, even if they were โthere in person,โ butโฆ
- Everyone knows what they think happened, and what it meant to them
This is true in both fiction and non-fiction.
True, journalists, as non-fiction writers, are supposed to render facts as objectively as they can. But honest, objective fact-finders know that even after interviewing eyewitnesses (โblind menโ) their summary will inevitably fall short of โcomplete.โ Hence, โrioting occurredโ is more accurate than โthe protest turned into a riotโ (did everyone riot? Were there no objectors?). And โmany weptโ is more accurate than โthere wasnโt a dry eye in the audienceโ (did no one roll their eyes and visit the loo?). Thereโs no such thing as a complete picture, and so, in essence, thereโs no suchโฆ
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