...Through A Glass But Darkly
(An article about the Good and the Great)
Not everyone who puts a shit on you is your enemy. In every WHOLE story there is always what you call PARTS. There is HIS part, HER part, YOUR part, the OTHERS’ part. We cannot judge the whole story by just looking at one part; you’ve got to see the whole. You’ve got to hear all the sides and not just the right and/or the left side, but you have to hear all the different corners to make the story whole and without a hole, concrete without any room for errors and fallacies.
Then the critical phase begins. It is when the writer deals with his/her judgments and finally writes about it. The writer is responsible to whatever he/she writes about because after his/her own thorough studies regarding a certain situation, it is his/her judgments that he/she writes about. Good critics will discover soon what is hidden behind an article that a certain writer wrote; the errors, the myths, the fiction. But before a certain good critic could discover such discrepancies, the readers had already changed their lives because of the influence of that certain article that they have just read. If a certain politician’s decision was greatly influenced by a certain article, the whole nation is at stake – right?
“You should know who you are writing FOR.” – says Stephen Glass in the movie “Shattered Glass”, a tale about a young journalist on the verge of stardom. As he travels through the road of success, almost tangible; lies were told in the (most) sincerest means (that is how I describe it). But, was there another side behind the lies the eyes could see?
The end NEVER justifies the means but the mean justifies the means… that is what I’ve always believed. Upon scrutinizing the film, there was a part there that struck me the most and left me thinking over and over until I finally grabbed my pen and paper and wrote this stuff. It is the part when Stephen glass was inside his former classroom and was giving a lifetime testimony for young, aspiring journalism students, he said – “there are good editors, there are bad editors, there are both. My hope for you though, is that, once… at least once, you’ll get truly a great one. A great editor defends his writers against anyone. He stands up and fights for you… have that kind of courage.”
I tried to let that line sink into my brain cells right after watching the film, and I realized that Stephen Glass have mistaken the difference between a GOOD editor and a GREAT editor. I tried to dig in a little deeper on my own judgments and realized that a GOOD editor defends his writers but a GREAT editor defends the PAPER even to the very writer itself. A good editor defends his writers but do not realize that his writers are capable of defending their own selves when their articles are being attacked by critics. A great editor, however, knows what he should defend – that is the PAPER. A great editor realizes that the paper cannot defend itself when a bad writer attacks. A great editor knows the importance of the Paper, he knows that the Paper is a mightier sword than any ammunition; hence, he knows that it should be taken cared of by NOT just a GOOD editor BUT a GREAT editor.
A mask of hostility is sometimes, or most of the time worn to defend others. Chuck, the EIC of The Republic (from the movie “Shattered Glass”) wore that mask to defend his writers. A good editor defends his writers even when the price is his own good reputation, even if the price is to make him look like the villain. But the good editor became the great editor when time made him realize that the Paper is the one he should defend.
Writing is NOT just about getting your name on the front page… it is a RESPONSIBILTY.
Then the critical phase begins. It is when the writer deals with his/her judgments and finally writes about it. The writer is responsible to whatever he/she writes about because after his/her own thorough studies regarding a certain situation, it is his/her judgments that he/she writes about. Good critics will discover soon what is hidden behind an article that a certain writer wrote; the errors, the myths, the fiction. But before a certain good critic could discover such discrepancies, the readers had already changed their lives because of the influence of that certain article that they have just read. If a certain politician’s decision was greatly influenced by a certain article, the whole nation is at stake – right?
“You should know who you are writing FOR.” – says Stephen Glass in the movie “Shattered Glass”, a tale about a young journalist on the verge of stardom. As he travels through the road of success, almost tangible; lies were told in the (most) sincerest means (that is how I describe it). But, was there another side behind the lies the eyes could see?
The end NEVER justifies the means but the mean justifies the means… that is what I’ve always believed. Upon scrutinizing the film, there was a part there that struck me the most and left me thinking over and over until I finally grabbed my pen and paper and wrote this stuff. It is the part when Stephen glass was inside his former classroom and was giving a lifetime testimony for young, aspiring journalism students, he said – “there are good editors, there are bad editors, there are both. My hope for you though, is that, once… at least once, you’ll get truly a great one. A great editor defends his writers against anyone. He stands up and fights for you… have that kind of courage.”
I tried to let that line sink into my brain cells right after watching the film, and I realized that Stephen Glass have mistaken the difference between a GOOD editor and a GREAT editor. I tried to dig in a little deeper on my own judgments and realized that a GOOD editor defends his writers but a GREAT editor defends the PAPER even to the very writer itself. A good editor defends his writers but do not realize that his writers are capable of defending their own selves when their articles are being attacked by critics. A great editor, however, knows what he should defend – that is the PAPER. A great editor realizes that the paper cannot defend itself when a bad writer attacks. A great editor knows the importance of the Paper, he knows that the Paper is a mightier sword than any ammunition; hence, he knows that it should be taken cared of by NOT just a GOOD editor BUT a GREAT editor.
A mask of hostility is sometimes, or most of the time worn to defend others. Chuck, the EIC of The Republic (from the movie “Shattered Glass”) wore that mask to defend his writers. A good editor defends his writers even when the price is his own good reputation, even if the price is to make him look like the villain. But the good editor became the great editor when time made him realize that the Paper is the one he should defend.
Writing is NOT just about getting your name on the front page… it is a RESPONSIBILTY.