BBC a welcome alternative
published: Sunday | April 6, 2003
THE EDITOR, Sir:
SAID MARK Twain, "Since the truth is the most precious thing we have, we should all be very sparing in its use". His joke deftly reminds us that throughout history a goodly proportion of mankind has followed that precept with great diligence and that, furthermore, we all know it, liars and truth-tellers alike.
The decision of the British Broadcasting Corporation to offer the fullest possible coverage of the Iraq war gives us a most welcome alternative to the scanty bits we get from the money-controlled and heavily censored media houses of the United States of America.
To stay on air 24 hours a day, they must interview many dozens of people. A rule of thumb we should keep constantly in mind is that the nearer a person is to being a participant in the war, the more sparing is he of the truth.
As a cautionary footnote, the legendary New York financier, J.P Morgan, once said, "I find that every man has two reasons for whatever he does: a good one and the real one."
