Enga mellom fjella

The fragrance of the flower...

Ajo:

I'm a journalist.

I live in rural bottom-lands. Here people know each other, protect each other, make up stories because they're bored. Onions aren't very exciting. Beans are boring. But corn ... gossipy.

Of course, I'm biased. But I try to get at the truth to understand the people I've chosen to live among. There's so much they choose not to share. It's not always easy.

You think interviewing politicians is tough? Try vampires. There a bit techy ... but at least they rarely play games. They just flash their fangs and ... game over.

I record their stories. It's hard to get any hard facts though. After a few seasons or a few centuries the layers and layers of details blend. Yes, an event may stand out but how reliable is the point-of-view of a minority witness? Very. But it won't necessarily fit the narrative of the majority historians. Ask Czeszniak. So much must be inferred from old texts. So much is lost when voices are never recorded or once recorded discarded.

And lets face it, if you were a vamp do you really think you'd want to be labeled as Dracula, Chocula or Vlad. Those who were around at the time will tell you that Vlad was no vampire. Bloody? Yes. Bloodthirsty? Yes. As scary as Bawang on a bad day? Doubtful.

At the core of every myth there's a truth. Same with vamps. Except that when one has lived so long as some the truth has become myth. Thoom smiles when she says the fragrance of the flower is the memory you hold long after the flower is dust.

So what is truth? It's a cup of tea, a bowl of leek soup, and if you get lucky some mint-chocolate brownies.

-30-

Czeszniak just showed up with six dozen. Meadowlark put the kettle on. Let the party begin!

~ Ajo


Is there such a thing as “unbiased reporting?” (Consider not just journalism, but storytelling - is it possible to tell a story without bias?)

My succinct answer: no. Bias should be expected and accounted for.

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