Oil Spills and Such

I used to ask my students how they would find out the truth of, say, a news story, suggesting to them they could not count on the news media, for instance. Their abbreviated reports, their need for readers/listeners/viewers, their editorial agenda, etc. All would interfere with the truth.

Today I ask the same question, because we have the story--and it's a big one--from so many sources. BP tells its truth, the federal government a different story, the Coast Guard another, the Navy, the folks who are on those few and small stretches of beach doing "clean up," reporters with limited access or skewed perspective, former BP employees, and anyone with something against any of those entities. Any or all may not be worthy of belief.

And it is possible that all news, or most of it, is filtered through BP. It's their oil, after all, their deal.

I wonder, do all parties have something to gain in this thing? Is there some profit to be made by hiding the facts?

Or is there someone, anyone, anywhere, who is actually disinterested, objective? Even objectivity is no promise of the truth.

Some pretend to objectivity, pretend to say the truth. Some may believe what they tell. Others just don't know the whole story. Does anyone?

Can anyone? I don't think so.

So who tells the truth?

I say, no one. Not really.

I am not a cynic. I may be an idealist shocked and disappointed a few too many times. But I simply believe we will never know the truth of this thing.

And I'm not sure most of us really want to know. We're usually happy with the quick reports. They're quite enough, thanks.