The Impartial Writer: Fact or Myth?

-
A Well-Known Kazak Reporter

Today you will find many news agencies claiming to be fair & impartial in their presentation of news.
There are also many bloggers who claim to be pragmatic & impartial.
I consider myself one of those so called "impartial" writers but, upon honest inspection, I find that my writing eventually pushes my ideals...
How unimpartial!

So is it possible for a writer to be impartial?
I spent some time on the toilet bowl considering the possibility of an impartial writer...
This is what came out...

Consider this situation.
Side A is in conflict with Side B.
In this situation, the writer has several choices to make in his portrayal of this conflict.
He can either choose to side with A or side with B.
He can even side with both or condemn both!
Alternatively, he can choose to be neutral and narrate the situation as it is.

Let us now consider how neutral a writer can be when narrating a situation.
Covering of the strengths of A, no matter now neutrally presented, will give an advantage to A. Vice versa in the coverage of B.
Covering the weaknesses or flaws of A, no matter now neutrally presented, will give an advantage to B. Vice versa in the coverage of B.
Therefore, in order to be the neutral writer, he has to be fair & present the strengths of both sides. Vice versa in presenting weaknesses.

However, no strengths are the same nor are any two weaknesses the same.
Therefore, in order to come out as neutral or fair, the neutral writer will have to apply balance.
And balancing is NOT impartial.
It weakens the stronger & strengthens the weaker!

Therefore, I dare say any self-proclaimed impartial writer is in fact a liar.
However, writers do not dictate how readers respond to their writing.
Every reader has a response to every piece of writing he/she reads!
Come on, admit it, you are responding to my masterpiece even right now!
Reading the work of a writer that sides with A does not automatically convert the reader into siding with A...
(If you haven't realised already...) The reader has a choice!

So here is something for you, my readers, to consider...
As you were reading, examine your own thoughts/opinions/criticisms/appraisals...
Which side is it on?
How did you come up with those opinions?
What is your justification for those opinions?
What are your references?

Therefore readers, I urge you...
Be a perceptive reader...
Dont be fools merely regurgitating what you see...
Be media literate...
Reflect on what is read & examine the points discussed before you accept it as fact...

Popular posts from this blog

What To Do When Your Unifi Service Suddenly Drops

-
Image
After finally putting my kid to sleep, I was about to settle into the couch with my wife & stream a movie, when my Unifi fiber optic internet connection suddenly dropped. When it didn't come back after 1 hour, I realized that I had to do something. Considering that I pay my bills promptly every month, it must be a technical issue. Here's what I did to fix the problem. It look me less than 20 minutes. 1. First, I checked my modem (the white machine). I checked the lights on the modem. When the modem is functioning properly, lights will be on for POWER, PON, LAN1 & TEL1. If the red light for LOS lights up, call 100 to resolve the issue. Also, I made sure that all the wire connections were tight. 2. Next, I checked my router (the black machine). Again, I checked the lights. When the router is functioning properly, lights will be on for POWER, GLOBE, WIFI, LAN1. My POWER light was blinking, so that means that there was no internet connection. Again, I made sure th
Open Full Post »

Understanding The New SPM (2021) English 1119 Paper Format

-
Image
This outline & those of other SPM language papers were made publicly available on the Lembaga Peperiksaan Malaysia (LPM) website . I'm sure you've seen the above being circulated on the internet. But, what does it mean? How does this paper compare to the current SPM paper for English? Do we have to change our testing practices in Form 4? At this moment, information is sparse despite great public interest. As the head of the English panel at my school, my Form 4 colleagues will come to me for what to do & parents will ask me what this is about. Until we have very specific instructions from the ministry, this is what I will be telling my colleagues & parents based on the limited amount of information available to me from my intimate experience with the current SPM paper & second-hand information about the PT3 English paper. Let me know if I got anything wrong or if you have more detailed information.
Open Full Post »

How To Fix Logitech Options Not Loading

-
Image
I use a Logitech K380 bluetooth keyboard at home & love it to bits. Very quiet & the tactile response is just perfect. Also, it's super small so easy to put away when I need to pile exam papers on my desk. Still, there's one small problem though... It is a compact keyboard so the multimedia buttons double as function keys. I use the function keys A LOT & it's really cumbersome for me to have to hold the "fn" button every time I want to use them. I.e., try pressing alt+fn+f4 with one hand. Thankfully, with the Logitech Options software, I can default to the function keys. A few months ago, I was chagrined to learn that my keyboard had spontaneously returned to factory settings. "No problem", I thought. "I'll just change the settings in Logitech Options." Only to find that the app wouldn't load on my Windows 10 machine, resulting in the blank window you see screen-captured above. "Let me try reinstalling." Uni
Open Full Post »

A Review of Mosquito Coils In The Market

-
Image
Mosquito coils = The first line of defence against savage jungle mosquitoes. Remember when there was completely no electricity at my school ? It happened during the dry season so the nights were really really warm & hard to sleep with the windows closed. Why close the windows you ask? Because if you don't close the windows, the savages from the jungle will climb in & suck your blood! Literally! I'm talking about swarms of mosquitoes gang-banging your skin & leaving you with clusters of chickenpox-like bumps on your skin in the morning! These guys even bite through clothing!! The itchiness that ensues will practically ensure that you never have a good night sleep. In order to keep those monsters at bay, I had to go really low-tech. I eventually experimented with mosquito coils. There are so many in the market & I thought that all of them worked the same since they had the same basic ingredients. I was wrong. They had different effects on the mosquitoes &am
Open Full Post »

Exotic Fruit: Buah Isu

-
Image
I've been teaching in the Iban motherland for more than 1 year now & I have tasted many exotic fruits exclusively available only within these quiet secluded timber forests. Now, don't you smirk at me! You perverted baskets I call friends are thinking about a different 'fruit'! There are no innuendos here. The exotic fruits that I'm talking about are REAL fruits. First, let me introduce you to the cousin of the king of fruits... Buah Isu Buah Isu resembles it's cousin, the Durian , but I was told that it is NOT in the Durian family. The spikes are longer & they are sharper. They are also very much smaller than the Durians. It's about the size of a man's palm. It has a pleasantly sweet fragrance which is not pungent like the Durian's. Because of it's size, it is easily opened with a cleaver. After opening my first Isu, I couldn't help but bounce off the walls in gay laughter. It was all too amusing to me! I though
Open Full Post »