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writing for godot

The Ambiguity Zone Between Fact and Fiction

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Written by Robert Douglas   
Wednesday, 15 April 2015 22:28

The Rolling Stone published a compelling account of a University of Virginia frat-house rape. Turns out the publication ran with the story before nailing down all the facts. Florida State University has cleared Jameis Winston of allegations that he raped a woman. The news came in advance of the NFL Draft when the star quarterback is expected to be chosen first. There are elements of fact and fiction in both of these storylines. But getting the truth of each situation is beyond the scope of conventional journalism as it stands today.

Just because The Rolling Stone didn’t verify key details to support a piece about the pervasive sexual harassment and rape culture on college campuses, doesn’t mean such a culture doesn’t exist. Just because FSU says it couldn’t find evidence Jameis committed a felony doesn’t mean none existed. In fact, on April 16, 2015, his alleged victim filed a civil lawsuit seeking a jury trial to her day in court.

One problem with news is that it breaks too fast for us keep up. And, given the competitive nature of the information business, publishers can be too quick to get ahead of a narrative and too slow to pursue leads when a story that goes cold is edged out by hotter stories.

To complicate the pace of fact gathering, the media seems incapable of incorporating nuance into its coverage. Hard news must be delivered fast, in sparse terms. Important qualifiers for why and how actions occur often get lost or forgotten.

In the goodness of time, facts may become clear. But that’s not news; it’s history. For now, given a media landscape muddled in conflicting messages, we’re left to invent our own version of The Truth.

In a blog post here two years ago, I made a case for fiction in our culture. “Because facts are routinely distorted through one prism by sources with agendas to serve,” I wrote, “connecting inferred dots in a fictional narrative can be a stronger vehicle than conventional journalism for getting to the truth of a situation.


"I gain more insights into American Life from one episode of Law and Order,” I concluded, “than from a week's worth of programming on cable news networks.”

The trick is to refrain from losing your grip on the difference between what’s real and what’s Memorex. I might believe frat houses are moral cesspools and Jameis is an entitled pig. But if I conflate my biases with incomplete facts and present it as truth, I’m no better that Brian Williams.

So what’s a body to do? Learn to live with ambiguity until your working narrative starts to align the facts as they emerge. Then you can revive your thinking as needed. In the meantime:
Mamas, Don’t let your babies grow up to be frat boys.
Daddies, Keep your daughters away from Potbellies.
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Robert Douglas is a former union official and former business editor for The Palm Beach Post and Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. You can contact him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , like him on RBDMedia.com on Facebook or follow him at RBDMediaDotCom on Twitter.

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