Damn the Facts 
~ by James Banzer

   Now more than ever, excuses for not knowing what's going on in the world are few and far between. People can get their news in a variety of ways. There are
newspapers, television and radio stations, and Internet web sites.
   Some people prefer to ignore all these things. Instead, they get their information from the blabbermouths. This group of spreaders of the "news" is most troublesome, especially in light of the fact that the real facts are so readily available.
   The blabbermouths don't always intend to be inaccurate or misleading. Neither do they aspire in any way to be accurate. Yet they always find people who will give them an ear. Whenever and wherever there are listeners, these people will continue to speak their half-truths.
   The blabbermouth concocts indiscrete versions of events by "spreading the news" faster than a brush fire in the great American west. The really good
blabbermouth comes up with stories that seem to take on a life of their own.
   You hear the stories from the blabbermouths in the workplace, at the sports bars, at the coffee shops, or wherever else people gather. These are the kinds of
stories that clearly demonstrate a lack of critical thinking. The stories proliferate because there are those who will buy into anything that is told to them.
   There's a little game we all played as kids. Called "Gossip" or "Telephone," it is a game in which someone tells another person something by whispering into
their ear. The statement is repeated to still another person, and so on. Eventually, the sentence goes all around the room. The last person hearing the story is asked to state what was said. "Grandmother just bought a brand new car," eventually becomes, "Grandmother has wrecked her new car."
   The little exercise by the teacher always brings laughter. The object lesson is that repetition quite often results in gross inaccuracies.
   The reason that these stories are circulated is that too many people don't look for the facts. They take little bits and pieces and concoct their own versions of what has happened. Everyone has seen the wild stories that circulate through e-mail. That's the same thing.
   These false stories take on a life of their own. The bigger the event, the more likely it is that these widely circulated falsehoods are to take hold. Man never landed on the moon. Princess Diana was murdered by a car crash. The Gulf War and the recent war in Iraq were about nothing more or less than "blood for oil." The Central Intelligence Agency killed John F. Kennedy. With these kinds of tales, the evidence is damned. But they all make good stories in the minds of the blabbermouths and the listeners of blabber.
   Next time you hear a story, try employing some critical thinking. Ask yourself, where is the evidence? Is it fact, or is it blabbering? If it's blabbering, it's best to either put the brakes on the story with the facts, or simply walk away.



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James Banzer has enjoyed a long career in broadcast news and is now writing on his observations about the world around us. He is currently residing in Louisville, Kentucky. You may send an e-mail to him at  jamesbanzer@yahoo.com .