Who’s Telling the Truth?

Perhaps you spent a good part of your day on Thursday listening to sworn testimony about something that is alleged to have happened at a house party more than thirty years ago. Media coverage of the hearings and breathless commentary about the credibility of the two witnesses has been nearly worthless in helping us better understand what did or didn’t happen. Conflicting testimony, both offered with 100% assurance of confidence and accuracy, leave us with an empty feeling that we may never know the truth. What we do know is that lives hang in the balance and no one will emerge unscathed.

Truth is slippery. Many who are certain that they know the truth are either too blind or proud to acknowledge their own ignorance. A famous quote (often mis-attributed to Mark Twain but actually sourced to Josh Billings) says…

It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.

But just because truth is difficult to pin down doesn’t mean that it’s a mirage. Journalists, of all people, need to stay optimistic about the power of unbiased research to yield facts that will eventually point the way. But unless you’re an opinion writer or commentator you’ll need to work doubly hard to set aside your personal views and biases when covering a story as emotional and significant as this one.

This internet meme (see image below left) circulated a few years ago and makes a point about the relative nature of perception. If you ask untrained observers to evaluate a situation they may offer very different observations. But as the updated text on the right indicates, the truth of the matter is not subject to interpretation. The symbol on the ground doesn’t care where you’re standing or what you “think” it means. The truth just is…and it is up to us to figure it out.

In response to the Kavanaugh hearings I found several comments on social media that seemed to want to have it both ways.

I am unwilling to accept the idea that these testimonies are just wildly different interpretations of a shared event. And while FBI investigators may be able to shed light on the “facts” of the alleged incident, responsible reporters should be careful to report facts and avoid offering opinions about whose testimony is more “believable.”