Lies, Damned lies, and Statistics
When I was 21, I dropped out of college, then told everyone I graduated early… until they found out otherwise.
I got fired from Participant over a power struggle with the CEO, that I lost.
After four bosses in two years, I got shitcanned from NBCUniversal for “operating around centralized corporate systems.”
I partnered with a total gonif on National Lampoon and got swindled, because I thought I was smarter than him, which, it turns out, I was not.
These are my truths. This is me being transparent. It’s pretty uncomfortable. It is also far less normal, now, than it should be. Especially in the Media industry.
According to a study by the University of Oregon (go Ducks!), the average American tells 1.08 lies per day.
https://lnkd.in/e_XT6ETU
Unfortunately, this statistic is skewed higher by the habitual liars in our midst.
"Out of 1,000 American participants, 59.9% claimed not to have told a single lie in the past 24 hours. Of those who admitted they did lie, most said they’d told very few lies. Participants reported 1,646 lies in total, but HALF came from just 5.3% of the participants."
Personally I think that most of those 5.3% are CEOs and politicians.
We are now in the Post Truth Era. Our corporate and political leaders have elevated obfuscation to an art form, while our journalists and industry experts have transformed into devoted, cheering fans of BS.
I’d love to fault someone else for our current storm of bullshit. But unfortunately, when we look to apportion blame for our society’s lack of moral compass, we, the Media, can only look in the mirror. And if WE – America’s Media professionals – want to correct our honesty deficit, then WE must take action.
How?
News Media: When someone lies to your face, call them on it. It’s called fact checking. Dust it off, whip it out, and put it back to work. NOW.
Media Analysts: Do your fucking homework. When someone announces something, make them PROVE that thing. Maybe ask a, y'know, question. Stop trying to pass off cutting-and-pasting press releases as analysis.
The Rest of Us: Stop worrying more about keeping your job than about speaking the truth to your boss. The last few years have shown that our Media jobs are far from safe, even if you play nice and go-along to get-along. Ask the hard questions. Speak up to power.
Building back our honesty muscles starts by ALL OF US telling the hard truths to each other. At the link, I drop a LOT of straight poop about The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, NVIDIA, Andreessen Horowitz and Netflix.
https://lnkd.in/ekzREdhG
In this space, almost daily, I try to be brutally honest. Repeatedly. Believe me, it is not easy. It is often uncomfortable.
But it does get easier over time. And, if enough of us do it, consistently and persistently – it will become more uncomfortable to be dishonest than to bullshit.
