Conway’s con job on alternative facts and realities

The United States President Donald Trump’s special adviser Kellyanne Conway’s comments, or shall we say rather unique choice of words, on Sunday have kicked up a storm in the US and stirred a debate of sorts across the world. Defending Press secretary Sean Spicer on a new channel, Conway said Spicer had actually shared “alternative facts” with the reporters and not lied. Alternative facts? What are these? Do they even exist? There certainly can be alternate views, but not alternative facts. Facts are facts. They are sacrosanct as every journalist is taught in journalism schools all over the world, and then at work, almost every day. The importance of fact-checking is cast in stone, for credibility is indelible ink for most journalists. The foundations of high-quality journalism rest on facts, and its accurate reporting. Yes, in some cases there can be and in fact there are political biases, or reflection of the interests of the stakeholders involved. However, the reputation of high-quality journalism has always rested on probity, and will continue to do.

Yet, populist spiel of leaders, byte-sized nuggets of information flooding social media, and other forms of writing (blogs) that conform to the views of the readers are contesting the role of serious journalism. It is easy to surf and find a narrative that agrees with you, even though it might not necessarily be true to facts. It might have the kind of truth that readers want to read, or believe in, yet it might not hold up to the standards of a longstanding journalism institute. Every news cannot be objectively true, which is why it sometimes leads people to believe that the elite and the powerful can create a different understanding of reality. However, this is also the reason why serious journalists should continue to hold high standards for news reporting and coverage through facts. It is called the fourth estate for it has the power to sift truth from false news and hold the powerful accountable. Like George Orwell once said: “In a time of universal deceit — telling the truth is a revolutionary act,” and we journalists will continue to do that.