Don't expect the truth

A broadcast journo friend of mine was bemoaning bloggers: "Everything I do has to be double-sourced and made to stand-up. Bloggers can write what they want. Once you set yourself free from the facts, anything's possible. We could get a lot more viewers if we were allowed to do it like them." The problem is that the closer you get to the truth, the duller it is. Ratings and circulations are not built on dull. They're built on speed and sensation. We know the speed of stories is also inversely proportional to their truth. Wait a hundred years and a historian will get you as close to the truth as their prejudice will allow. Wait five years and a lawyer might get you there, but way after anyone's bothered. Ask Michael Jackson, OJ Simpson or Saddam Hussein. Three years and an accountant might help, but only if there's anything left after the journalist has been there. Ask Arthur Andersen. Wait five minutes and a blogger might entertain you, but don't expect the truth.