HALF THE STORY

Impediment to Forming of a Correct Opinion

USUALLY people narrate only the second half of their story. They conveniently skip the first half of it. For example, if someone hits a person on the road, the person who is hit will say that another person hit him. But he won’t tell what he said himself that made the other person angry, and he hit him under provocation.

In the same way, if there is a dispute between two groups, and incidents of oppression and wrongdoing occur, then there is definitely one group that incites the other with its actions. This is how the other group starts to riot. But when the first group tells the story, it will only describe the second part of the event. It would say that the other group was the first to commit mischief. But they would not acknowledge that they did something which instigated the opposite group, which incensed the other party. Such reporting can be termed as poor or incomplete reporting.

This one-sided reporting is common in society. It is the case of every person—they hide their share of the mistake and only mention the faults of others. This is biased reporting. There are two disadvantages of such reporting. First, it puts a stop to the development of right attitude, and second, it does not solve the problem.

---

Biased reporting has two disadvantages. First it puts a stop to the development of right attitude and second it does not solve the problem.

---

Moreover, this type of reporting is an act of intellectual misconduct. It goes against the demands of justice. This kind of inadequate reporting is morally wrong and does not help in solving the problem. The narrator of one side of a story may feel happy within, but with respect to the external world, this kind of approach is certainly not useful.