Volume and Sound Byte

Of Late the common man finds difficulty in prizing truth from a plethora of comments and opinions on offer in print and the electronic media. The reason is not far to seek. There is a perceptible deficit of truth in statements from persons, who are charged with telling the truth. Politicians, in general, the world over are perceived to be economical with truth and enjoy little credibility — a fact brought out forcefully in a worldwide Gallup survey commissioned by BBC World Service almost 10 years ago.

The common citizen is confused and confounded by layers and layers of views. It is compounded by the fact that the media often adds its own twist to statements from leaders, which suffer from a serious lack of transparency in the first place. There have been lengthy discussions about the credibility of the media, particularly in the West, and the way news is presented. It is just not the media that lacks credibility in popular perception, but world leaders, politicians and officialdom all enjoy little trust for their utterances. Facts are presented not the way they happen, but the way some people would like them to happen.

It is no accident that reality is substituted by make-believe. It is a result of conscious efforts based on Hitler's dictum that "a lie thrice repeated becomes truth." Regrettably, they are repeated not just thrice, but ad nauseam. What is lacking in substance is made up in volume and sound byte.

And to glean the truth one need to place the statements in appropriate categories and then decide on the quantum of discount to attach to each. The determination is subjective and individuals make their own classification.