The truth please

I would like to wish you all a Very Very Happy New Years. I am currently back in the homeland of Montreal, Canada, and apart from the heaps of snow and ice, I think I am starting to remember why I left this city. Also, seeing that I am so severely jet lagged, I don't know how merry my new years celebration will be. Like to be in bed by 12:30... which would be around 5:30am (London time).. yep not gonna make it tonight.

So I read this quote in The Gazette today, which is an english Montreal newspaper. "When there are two conflicting versions of a story, the wise course is to believe the one in which people appear at their worst." H. Allen Smith
I thought rather fitting for my blog. According to this quote, we tend to believe a story when the outcome is really bad. And this brings me to my next point, when it comes to conveying a story to the public through any sort of medium like a newspaper, television, radio etc.. how do we know where the truth is, and does it really matter?

According to the book "Where the Truth Lies", by Julia Hobsbawn, truth in the media is never possible. There will be as many different versions of a story as there will be newspapers that cover it. And depending on what kind of paper (magazine) it is, the story will change. What Hobsbawn says is that the more credible the paper, the more factual the story. Basically, the tabloid is nothing but nonsense. The stories that appear in these magazines are simplifications of the actual story that are intended to ignite a sort of emotion from the reader, be it rage, sadness or drama. Her book is a collection of essays that intend to bridge the relationships of PR and journalism. What can be concluded is that the relationship between the two is one of perpetual mistrust. Both pointing fingers at the other stating that truth in the media cannot be found because of the other.

PR people complain that journalists do not appreciate the work they have done, which can be summed up in a press release with all the information a journalist needs (they never have to leave their desk in search of facts), and a journalist states that although they are given the facts, it is always given with a substantial amount of "gloss", that helps to hide the ugly part of the story. Although this may be true, we can also argue that the press will distort a story even when it has been presented to them in such a clean way, because selling newspapers is ever more important, and depending on the audience, the story must change. Although PR is in the business of selling an idea, journalism is in the business of selling a story.
In all, Hobsbawn tries to finds the truth, but has little explanation of what "truth" really means. She tries to link the relationship between PR and journalism yet a lot of the essays featured in her book argue the exact opposite.
What I can conclude from these readings is this: According to journalists, PR people may not be "spinning" a story, but they do try to present their clients in the best possible way. Ignoring certain facts, may be to some, a spinster at work.