Life teaches you that you cannot believe everything you read, whether it is from a religious work, newspaper or even a non-fiction book. There is an old saying that states; “you can believe none of what you hear, half of what you read and most of what you see.” Now then, how true is that saying, after all if someone says it, then you cannot believe it – if someone writes it you are still only 50/50 on reality. Luckily, you can see it and observe it in real life and that means it must be mostly true, yet you cannot know this until you do personally observe it.

As a rather well known individual in my civic activities and businesses as an entrepreneur, I was often interviewed for newspaper and TV pieces. Each time, I was amazed how the reporters would distort whatever I had said or the actual event itself. After all, they had the benefits of the cutting room or choosing which quotes to put in an article. I actually enjoyed live radio interviews, as there was less ability to distort the segment after the fact, because it was live.

Over time, I got to not trust anything I read, unless I had first hand knowledge of it. Today however older folks who vote most often, generally read the newspaper each day and watch TV news. In fact, most people watch TV for many hours a day and trust what they read in the newspaper. When you see enough abuse in the media, you are quite skeptical of it and I personally actually grew a disdain for writers because they modify reality. Now after all that harsh criticism, now I am a writer myself.

One of the biggest problems I had with writers is that they were writing about what I was doing, not about what they had done themselves. I am a doer and they are writers, see the difference? In hindsight, I see the value of writers in society, but rarely respect them when they push agendas or allow their employers too. It is a shame.

Why do writers distort? Because they are humans and humans excel at deception and often writers are not doers and do not fully understand what is going on in the world of doers and thus use their pen to comment between the lines if not outright purport falsehood. Rule of thumb is to remember that you can only trust 1/2 of what you read and go from there? Perhaps read two newspapers then? Sincerely, Lance.