OtherPress2015Vol41No21.pdf-20

opinions // 20

You only have one reputation

» Don't underestimate the destructive force of dishonesty

Elliot Chan
Opinions Editor
© opinions
@theotherpress.ca

ournalists getting into

trouble—an old story, yet
a frequent one. There is not
much you can predict these
days except that sooner or later
some established media figure
will stumble off the pedestal
they created for themselves
and writhe in the filth of their
undoing. What happened to
Brian Williams, NBC’s Nightly
News anchor, could not have
happened to anyone. It was
not an honest mistake. He did
not misquote a subject. He
did not make a typo. He made
a conscious decision to lie.
And although the public may
be forgiving, they will never
forget.

A person’s reputation is
built upon their competence
and integrity. When someone
compromises it, as in the case
of Williams, that reputation
is tarnished. The stakes are
the same; it doesn’t matter
if the person is a 40-year

: veteran ora newly hired intern.
: But what can we learn from

: this incident? After all, we

: understood at a very young age
: not to lie.

The reason we lie is not

: necessarily because we are evil,
: lazy, hurtful people. The main
: motivation for lying comes

: internally from the person

: telling it. They may have a lack
: of confidence, lack of ability,

: or lack of trust. People lie to

: themselves first in a fake-it-

: until-you-make-it sort of way.

: The lies then snowball and

: eventually what began as a

: little confidence boost becomes :
: arolling, unstoppable stone of
: trouble.

When Williams was

called out for his exaggerated

: story, he admitted to

: misremembering the situation.
: And believe it or not, in his

: subconscious mind, that is

: in fact true. If you tell a lie

: enough, eventually it does

: become true; however, that

: doesn’t change reality. We

: need to be aware of what we

: are lying about and how far we
string our web.

It is time we recognize

: that there is no such thing as

: a harmless lie. Whether it’s in
Da professional, academic, or

: social environment lying can
compromise your reputation

: and destroy your relationships.
: We must have confidence in

: ourselves and own up to our

: mistakes. People are quick

: to forget errors. We all make

: mistakes. We all live pretty

: normal lives. We all work hard.
: We should stop allowing lies to
be an acceptable norm.

Take a look at your resumé

or listen to yourself at a party
: and try to catch yourself when

you stray from the truth. Call

: yourself out on it. The sooner
: you know you area liar, the

: sooner you can stop. You do

: need to stop. If you don't, it

: will destroy your life. Maybe

: not today. Maybe not 20 years
: from now. But one day. Look

: at all the famous people who

: are now only recognized for

: the lies they told and not their
: accomplishments. You don’t

: want your name on the career
: tombstone alongside Brian

: Williams, do you?

theotherpress.ca

Photo Illustration by Joel McCarthy

Fuck the police?

» The cool and edgy sentiment from everyone's favourite peanut gallery: the Internet

Alex Stanton
Staff Writer

It a trend that’s as old as
the profession itself, but
has only gained noticeable
momentum in the past decade
or so. It appears as though
you can't even mention “law
enforcement” in a light that
is anything but completely
negative without some young
kid—who spends far too
much time reading alternative
news websites and YouTube
comments—jumping up your
ass and verbally tearing you
to pieces for implying that we
don’t live in a police state where
the average law enforcement
officer is a power-hungry closet
murderer. Aside from that
being an unbelievably close-
minded view, it’s important
to remember some very basic
human concepts.

As I write this article,
I’m reminded of an officer
involved in a shooting that
happened early last year in
Billings, Montana. The officer

four meth heads and, after
calmly asking everyone to place

: their hands where they could

: be seen, noticed one of the

: men in the backseat reaching

: towards the far side of his foot.
: The officer pulled out his gun,
: repeated his lawful orderonce :
: or twice ina stern way, and then :
: shot the man multiple times,
: killing him.

Now here’s the part that

: may cause a bit of internal

: dissonance for the many people :
: who disagree with me. The dash :
: cam footage showed the officer

: sprawled out on the hood of his
: car, reduced to tears after the

: experience. A fellow officer of

: his could be seen comforting

: him, reminding him that he

: met his number one goal for

: the day: to make it home to his

: family in one piece.

The moral of the story isn’t

that cops are the créme de la

: creme of society and are always
; justified in the decisions they

; make (though I believe, in this
: case, he was totally justified);

: it’s that these men and women
: are only human. Of course,

; they have to be held to a higher
approached a vehicle containing ;
; death caused by police must

: be investigated. But to hop on

standard, and every civilian

: the bandwagon and scream,

: “Fuck the police!” every time

: something like this happens is,
: in the plainest terms possible,

: just being a total sheep.

“Protect and serve” isa
distant second to “surviving”

in terms of police priorities, as
: per common sense and their
training. Reading past the

: sensationalist headlines about
: these incidents and the peanut

gallery known as the general

: public will reveal that most of

; these situations aren’t as black
: and white as they are portrayed
: in the media.

It’s surprisingly easy to

create a personal opinion on

: asituation where you don’t

: know what went down. It’s

: even easier when the extent

: of your experience up close

: and personal with the police

: consists of failing to talk your
way out of a speeding ticket

: because your poker face sucks

: or you forgot your sexy low-cut
: top. Unfortunately, it’s not easy
: to think critically about what
you hear from the media, and to
: see these people as human.

— Gay —
i -_

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