University of New Hampshire's Whittemore School of Business and Economics

I gave a talk at the University of New Hampshire’s Whittemore School of Business and Economics about the importance of truth in journalism.  I transferred to UNH in ‘67 with a 4.0 – then I took calculus.  I got an “F” on my first test.  At the end of the class the Professor asked, “Why are you taking this class?”  My answer, “It’s required.”

Fortunately for today’s students, UNH business majors are no longer required to take calculus.  That is not the only thing that has changed in the forty years since I hit the books hard in pursuit of an undergraduate degree.

Preparing for my talk recalled to mind one of my favorite expressions: “As you are so was I.  As I am so shall you be.”

When I sat where the students now sit, my favorite speaker was Anthony Athanas.  Probably because Mr. Athanas hired me to work in his Hawthorne By-The-Sea Restaurant in Swampscott MA.  Mr. Athanas was the quintessential American Dream come true.  He opened Anthony’s Pier 4 and many other fine dining restaurants in the Boston area and Cape Cod.

Forty years from now perhaps one of those students will return to UNH to speak to the students of 2049.  I know forty years probably sounds like a long time but, especially if you are having a good time, trust me it flies.

Steven Jobs introducing the iPad

Think for a moment of all that has changed since I was a student.  Back then, no PC’s, no cell phones, no GPS, no ATM’s, no iPad, no Xbox, no Twitter, no Grand Theft Auto, not even Pac Man.  The computer class I took had a lab, which included the use of a punch card terminal.

Now think about the changes that will take place before a member of my student audience returns to talk to the students of 2049.  If Ray Kurzweil in his book “The Singularity Is Near” is correct then, by that time people may have the power to choose how long they live.

Now if you think old geezers like me (I am a first generation rock n’ roller) are putting a strain on our health care system, think about how much of a strain it will be with human life extended indefinitely.  Perhaps science will cure every malady by then!

I asked the students “With all that has changed, and will change, what one thing never changes?”  A student replied “Human nature.”

That’s right, and that is another reason why I admired Mr. Athanas so much.  He understood human nature.  For years Mr. Athanas closed down the restaurant for a day and treated all the Boston cab drivers to a free meal.

Now his accountant probably thought he was nuts but suppose you’re in a cab going from Logan to an appointment in Boston and you ask the driver where you should eat tonight.  What do you think the cab driver will say?

So he understood human nature, what motivates people and according to motivational speaker Zig Zigler everybody listens to radio station WIIFM – What’s In It For Me?

Now Mr. Athanas was very honest about why he was picking up the tab for the cabbies, in fact he was a stickler for honesty.  I often think of what he said: “Johnny, a man will never fault you for trying to get the best possible deal, by the same token, he will never forgive you for lying or cheating.”

Mr. Athanas was talking about honesty, integrity, telling the truth.  A lot of people loved Mr. Athanas because it is human nature to be attracted to those who are straight with us, who tell us the truth.

Today I would like to focus on a very specific and critically important kind of truth.  That is truth in news reporting.  Part and parcel of our unchanging nature is our innate need to know the truth about what is going on.  It is an essential need in every community, if the community is to tackle its problems and function optimally.

The reason I am still working way past my official retirement instead of learning another guitar lick from my brother Jimmy Mack (who is as good as Clapton), is because, in my lifetime I have been an eyewitness to the death of journalism and I just cannot sit picking my guitar until truth in journalism has been restored. Without truth how can we expect to solve the unprecedented problems we share?

“Journalism” here is defined as a commitment to discovering truth regarding the what, why, who, when, where and how of the stories affecting our lives.

Once discovered, truth demands reporting. This is authentic journalism and an honest journalist is a truthful chronicler of what is discovered in the pursuit of knowledge.

Historically free nations have counted on news media to deliver facts and to report truthfully.

President of Iran at Columbia University /Wikipedia

Today news seems to fall into three categories.  In Russia, China, or Iran it is State run – no truth there.  And if there is no truth, then there is no useful knowledge, no average citizen understanding of what is really going on?

Now in countries with a free press, like the U.S. news more and more falls into two categories. Entertainment masquerading as news or news totally in the tank for either the right or the left and where’s the truth in that?

I know there are rare exceptions to this sorry state.  Even the most partisan news outlet will occasionally get it right just as a broken clock reports the correct time twice a day.  But truth in journalism must be the rule not the exception to the rule if we are to reverse the erosion of freedoms in the U.S. and expand freedom around the globe.

James Madison the fourth President of the United States said:

“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”

The Chroniclers community is re-purposing news and information activities as a means of identifying and solving  shared problems. The community of Chroniclers emerging at ChroNews consists of individuals who are dedicated to Non Partisan Pursuit of Truth® because only truth can arm citizens with the power which knowledge gives.

All too often, big media fails to arm us with critical knowledge.  Every time a cable news show convenes a panel to discuss a political topic, they illustrate my point.  If the network is right leaning then the panel consists of two conservatives, a liberal (who is more accurately described as a moderate) and the host leans conservative.

If the network leans left then the panel consists of two liberals, a conservative and the host leans liberal.  Do they think we are stupid?  We do not notice this stacking of the deck?  If you have not noticed this bias you probably are blindly committed to either the left or the right point of view and are stuck on one news source.

If that is the case than ChroNews will likely not appeal to you.  It is dedicated to Non Partisan Pursuit of Truth® believing only truth will lead to solutions beneficial to most.

On a personal note, one of my greatest blessings in life are my five sisters.  Of course, I love my two brothers just as much but my sister are really something special.  The sister that arrived a year after me is Hope.  She was the fourth of eight.  My Father used to joke they named her “Hope” because they hoped there would be no more children.

I am also very thankful to my sisters for giving me five more brothers.  I have one brother-in-law who I love to visit because I know the conversation will be very stimulating.  His family has been voting for the same party for as long as he can remember.  During one of our political discussions, I asked him, “If what you believe were not true would you want to know?”  Think about that question, “If what you believe were not true would you want to know?”  He said “NO”.

Please don’t get me wrong, I love him like a brother and we would do anything short of breaking the law to help each other.  However, answering “No” to that question is a bit like the guy who said, “Please don’t confuse me with the facts my mind’s already made up.”

Right there is a big part of our problem.  Too many have stopped critically examining the difference between what their party claims to stand for and what they are actually doing.  In my humble opinion, both parties are equally guilty.

This probably explains why the cable news shows are so popular.  If the network leans left, they tell the left what they want to hear.  The right leaning networks do the same for their audience.  Meanwhile when do we have a real conversation among people of all persuasions about the breathtaking problems confronting us to say nothing of searching for solutions?

How can we expect to develop the best possible solutions to our daunting problems if we are unwilling to listen to each other?

While at UNH, I asked the students what kind of future will their children and grandchildren have if we fail to restore truth in journalism.  Chronicles is about restoring truth in journalism.  Without truth, we fail to identify the real problems.

How ironic was it to watch congress creating a one size fits all health care solution in a world characterized by over 300,000 iPhone apps.  The socially networked people of the world are creating a seemingly endless variety of solutions to life’s problems through peer-to-peer collaborative efforts while congress goes behind closed doors to do the people’s business.

Think about that, the people’s business behind closed doors.

The people of the world want a vigorous debate over issues and they want to take part in the debate.  They know tools exist to allow their participation. They expect those with opposing points of view to defend their positions but eventually to come together to solve problems, not to waste valuable time and resources trying to look good by making the other side look hapless.

Anyone who has ever been in a relationship knows what it takes to make it work – compromise.

Meanwhile congress is more polarized then ever.  The Congressional Quarterly reports that in the year I completed my undergraduate work, 1969, Democrats voted 61% of the time with their own party, Republicans 62%.  In 2009 the number for Democrats 89% and 85% for the Republicans.

Neither side of an issue has a monopoly on truth.  Therefore, unless an elected official has won the vote of every single eligible voter, there is no justification for dismissing opposing points of view.

Ignoring opposing voices breeds great discontent and fuels additional incivility. Taken to extreme such inconsideration leads to civil war. Freedom is not served by a “tyranny of the majority”, especially a thin majority.

What happens when you make all the decisions in your relationships?

Harry Reid (D-NV), U S Senator and Majority Leader of the United States Senate

When a politician states the opposition has “nothing to offer”, I stop reading or change the channel.  Come on, how can it be that a party with slightly less than majority support has “nothing”?  In my lifetime, the party in power typically has only been in power by a thin majority.  If you “railroad” the minority party when you are in power you will get the same treatment when your party is the minority.

Unfortunately, we cannot expect either party to be magnamamous enough to be the first to listen to opposing voices, so hyper-partisanship will continue to prevent the very best solutions from rising to the surface, unless we the people demand otherwise.

The internet offers a tool we can use to stop this madness and get to some real solutions.  It demonstrates for all of us what poets have always been telling us.  We are all connected.  The internet holds incredible promise for what it can do to advance the cause of freedom by allowing us to anticipate, identify and solve shared problems.  But we must be ever vigilant because there are those who, as we speak, are trying to figure out how to control the net to better control us.

Horace Mann said, “Be ashamed to die until you have achieved a victory for humanity”.  As impressed as I am with my own personal victories, I must confess I do not feel I have achieved a victory for humanity.

Making it a lot harder for members of Congress to continue their circus would be a victory for humanity.  Just preventing a well meaning but sadly myopic politician from enacting a law that will ultimately be destructive to personal freedom by creating more problems then it solves, would be a victory for humanity. Preventing the tyrants of the world to hide what they are up to would surely be a victory for humanity.

Widespread access to truthful information is an absolutely essential precondition to achieving these goals.  Only truth will aid us in safeguarding freedoms where established and advancing freedoms where totalitarianism reigns.

The World faces many daunting challenges.  Limiting our sources of information limits our access to truth.  Only accurate, truthful knowledge offers hope of governing ourselves successfully by selecting the best solutions to problems.   Misinformation compounds problems and poses a grave threat to freedom.

News used to come from people living in our community, working for locally owned news organizations.  A reporter was less likely to tell a “tall tale” because people in the community would know better.  Today greater than fifty percent of every thing we read, hear or see comes from six multinational conglomerates.

To return truth and honesty to journalism we need less big media concentration and more locally owned news organizations.  The Chronicles platform does just that by providing independently owned and operated local news organizations the tools they need to arm there citizens with the power of truth.

Imagine what freedom of the press would mean if a news organization was not under the control of a billionaire.  Imagine how the world could change if the only constraint on what is reported is it must strictly adhere to Non Partisan Pursuit of Truth®.  Imagine how faithful a local Chronicles Publisher will adhere to Non Partisan Pursuit of Truth® knowing the Chronicles Bylaws stipulate, failing to do so results in loss of the License to Publish under the Chronicles platform.

Finally, I want to leave you with something inspired by a favorite songwriter, Bob Dylan.

Getting at truth has never been more important. If we fail to understand the long-term impact of the decisions we make and those supposedly made on our behalf, we may wake up one day and discover freedom’s dreams have all been repossessed by governments and other powers big enough to suck the genius and generosity right out of humanity.

Chronicles can only play a role in preventing such a tragedy with your help. Join the Chroniclers Community now.