Dangers of Creative Lying

 

As a long-time communications professor I have often tried to impress my students with the importance of checking their sources. The source you choose to quote can be valuable, but it can also be dangerous. Though it has always been true, the present   era demonstrates clearly how pre-conceptions definitely color the way news gets reported. We must also be aware of sources which are self-serving.

A story from history illustrates the danger of creative lying. According to Richard Shenkman and Kurt Reiger in “One-Night Stands With American History” (Quill, 1982) the Boxer Rebellion in China originated with a fake news story fabricated by four Denver journalists. They met on a slack news day and made up a story about a party of engineers who stopped in Denver on their way to China. The purpose of their trip to China involved a negotiation with the Chinese government to demolish the Great Wall of China.

The reporters shared their “scoop” with the four Denver papers they represented, and the “news story” soon reached China, igniting the Boxer Rebellion. “Missionaries were forced to flee and foreign legations came under violent attack for weeks” (Shenkman).  Great loss of life and property ensued, all because of a lie by the media.

The Bible tells us that “the truth will set you free” (John 8:31). The correlative of that would be “a lie will place you in bondage.” Truth may be hard to find among the shrieking voices of modern media sources, but only finding truth will truly set us free. It is worth the search--and research.