Truth be Told

 

Is the truth important? 

As journalists, the facts we uncover leads to the truth. The telling of the facts does not begin and end with a statement like, "There was an apartment fire last night in Anywhere, USA. 14 people died." Uncovering the many facets of a story, the unpeeling of the layers of the onion that makes up the story, leads to insights. Public media listeners understand that these stories are multilayered. As citizens of the world, they want to know more. They want context.

Depth, depth, and more depth

What we cover and how we cover it matters. Disappoint our audience, and they will go elsewhere. Peeling away the layers to uncover the facts helps our listeners connect the dots and arrive at the truth.

The Importance of Truth 

Truth matters, both to us as individuals and to society as a whole. As individuals, being truthful means that we can grow and mature, learning from our mistakes. For society, truthfulness makes social bonds, and lying and hypocrisy break them.

https://www.skillsyouneed.com ›  

Truth matters as the foundation for interpersonal trust. It matters because we cannot talk to one another, much less conduct a serious debate, until we share some principles and facts about the world at large, not to mention a consensus on how to generate them. Nov 2, 2020

https://www.abc.net.au › religion › s... 

Truth-telling makes possible freedom and trust between people, and, in the life of faith, it makes possible closeness to God. People of good will must always be willing to demand truth-telling because no one should be treated as if they were not worthy of being told the truth.  Mar 11, 2017

https://www.mcall.com › opinion 

Why is it so difficult to be honest?

The reality is that honesty and transparency require very high levels of emotional intelligence. True intimacy requires comfort with emotional vulnerability and our culture is very far from comfortable with emotions. Further, dishonesty drives fear and fear drives sexual desire.  Nov 4, 2019 medium.com

And once the truth is revealed the story isn’t over. “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” Oscar Wilde.  

In an interview with our former president, Trump was questioned by Steve Inskeep about his lies about the 2020 election, and asked about his pronouncements about the insurrection. It was clear Inskeep was prepared for the responses he would get from Trump. When presented with the facts, he walked out. 

Here's a sampling from the interview:

NPR'S STEVE INSKEEP: Let me read you some short quotes. The first is by one of the judges, one of the 10 judges you appointed, who ruled on this. And there were many judges, but 10 who you appointed. Brett Ludwig, U.S. District Court in Wisconsin, who was nominated by you in 2020. He's on the bench and he says, quote, "This court allowed the plaintiff the chance to make his case, and he has lost on the merits."

Another quote, Kory Langhofer, your own campaign attorney in Arizona, Nov. 12, 2020, quote, "We are not alleging fraud in this lawsuit. We are not alleging anyone stealing the election." And also Rudy Giuliani, your lawyer, Nov. 18, 2020, in Pennsylvania, quote, "This is not a fraud case." Your own lawyers had no evidence of fraud. They said in court they had no evidence of fraud. And the judges ruled against you every time on the merits.

TRUMP: It was too early to ask for fraud and to talk about fraud. Rudy said that, because of the fact it was very early with the — because that was obviously at a very, very — that was a long time ago. The things that have found out have more than bore out what people thought and what people felt and what people found.

When you look at Langhofer, I disagree with him as an attorney. I did not think he was a good attorney to hire. I don't know what his game is, but I will just say this: You look at the findings. You look at the number of votes. Go into Detroit and just ask yourself, is it true that there are more votes than there are voters? Look at Pennsylvania. Look at Philadelphia. Is it true that there were far more votes than there were voters?

INSKEEP: It is not true that there were far more votes than voters. There was an early count. I've noticed you've talked about this in rallies and you've said, reportedly, this is true. I think even you know that that was an early report that was corrected later.

TRUMP: Well, you take a look at it. You take a look at Detroit. In fact, they even had a hard time getting people to sign off on it because it was so out of balance. They called it out of balance. So you take a look at it. You know the real truth, Steve, and this election was a rigged election.

When pressed, it was excuse after excuse — it was "too early" to claim fraud, his attorney was no good, things just seem suspicious.

The truth can be hard. It is hardest on those who lie, or is it? Research shows that once people go down that path, the easier it is to continue lying. Don't expect to reform the liar. Instead, lay bare the lies. Reveal the lair for who he is. Repeat the facts, because the liars will continue to lie. 

To find out more about The Fascinating Reason Why Liars Keep On Lying click on this link from Time.