{"id":1466,"date":"2014-02-20T07:58:41","date_gmt":"2014-02-20T14:58:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/?p=1466"},"modified":"2014-02-20T07:58:41","modified_gmt":"2014-02-20T14:58:41","slug":"spinning-truth-let-yes-yes-let","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/spinning-truth-let-yes-yes-let\/","title":{"rendered":"The Spin Cycle of Truth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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If you were around in the 70\u2019s, you\u2019ll never forgot the movie\u00a0Jaws<\/a>, adapted from Peter Benchley<\/a>\u2018s\u00a0book. Let\u2019s just\u00a0say it wasn\u2019t beach reading.<\/p>\n

The premise was frightening. A eastern seaboard resort town. Families on vacation. Sun. Laughter. Swimming. And a killer shark.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Much of the movie centered on the cover-up by the city officials who didn\u2019t want a little thing like killer sharks ruining their summer tourism season.<\/p>\n

Who can forget Amity\u00a0Mayor Vaughn<\/a>, at a press conference, who said this, \u201cI\u2019m pleased and happy to repeat the news that we have, in fact, caught and killed a large predator that supposedly injured some bathers. But, as you see, it\u2019s a beautiful day, the beaches are\u00a0open and people are having a wonderful time. Amity, as you know, means \u2018friendship.'\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\"Jaws\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There is a tendency to cover up the bad<\/b>. We see it all the time. If you follow Wall Street, you know that companies who give their annual reports find the one bit of good news and leap on it. If revenue is down, they\u2019ll still point out that Widget A increased sales among 50-54 males in Maryland.\u00a0And that\u2019s supposed to help us feel better.<\/i><\/p>\n

Politicians spin a similar line of thinking. Yes, people are losing their jobs because of ObamaCare<\/a>, but that means they\u2019ll have more time at home<\/i>. \u00a0Sure, unemployment is hovering near 7 percent, but consumer confidence is up. Manufacturing volume is down, but jobs are being created in the green industry. The rich are getting richer, but they are providing employment opportunity. You get it.<\/p>\n

If you have watched Jay Carney<\/a>, the president\u2019s press secretary \u2014 and nearly all the others before him \u2014 you see shading of the truth in nearly every answer. It would be a very difficult job, to protect your boss through verbal gymnastics.<\/p>\n

Professionally, I work in public relations. So I\u2019m always cognizant about truth-telling. I want to be a man of my word and not engage in spin. I recently read a definition that was pretty good:<\/p>\n

The techniques of media spin include:<\/p>\n