GILPIN COUNTY - Perhaps we (the older generation) remember the game of “Telephone” from when we were kids? I certainly do. I also remember how distorted the message could be when it reached the fourth person. Or perhaps the seventh.
Someone would whisper into a friend's ear, “I heard Jody got in trouble at school for ditching a class.” And then the second person would pass it to another in a whisper, but somehow their mind heard and repeated, “I hear Jody got in trouble at school for jumping the fence.” And three people later it was “Jody got in trouble at school for drag racing on Friday at the football game in the parking lot.”
My goodness, I’m thankful we don’t do that anymore. But maybe we do!? Maybe that whisper is still out there, passing along from person to person, morphing as it goes?
This has been happening a lot lately, in my little world. He said. She said. Then this happened. And also, did you hear about such and such!? And can you believe it?
I overheard many conversations in the last week that morphed as the information was passed along, to the point that it wasn’t even anything factual or real. And it was harmful. To one person or another, somewhere along the way. It’s disheartening in its confusion.
Perhaps going straight to the first person to ask, “Hey, what’s the real story here?” would help. But my personal experience says people won’t take that extra step. People would rather believe the worst than research a real answer, to get to the truth.
So, I implore you, our readers, to ask. Ask good questions. Ask for honest answers. Ask at the source instead of believing the fifth person on the telephone line (okay it’s a cellphone now). Don’t believe what you’ve heard, but find verifiable truth to support (or negate) the situation.
I’m frustrated with the amount of drama I hear and deal with on a regular basis (you have NO idea). And I’m tired of the trash talk people may believe because they won’t bother to find factual information to validate something they heard.
And I’m exhausted by trying to keep up with the Joneses, or the Meyers, or whoever the heck we are supposed to be following this week.
And so it goes. But we, as journalists, and well, as humans, perhaps should hold ourselves to a higher standard. We must seek out the truth. And share it with accuracy.
And be honest in our conversations. And be thorough in our research. And share the news the community needs.
Ring, ring. It’s for you. Are you gonna answer it?
The Mountain-Ear is your community source for news, covering the Peak to Peak region since 1977. Reach me anytime by email at info@themountainear.com. Or give us a call at 303-810-5409.
Thanks for reading!
