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25) in the Yukon.
(B) This commonly held view is mistaken, according to Cockburn, because the Journalist's facts have no
value in themselves: they only become valuable when and if a good journalist ________________
(C) In what sense are «all stories... written backwards»?? (12-13)
(D) What might give the layman the impression that Cockburn is «saying that truth does not matter and that
[he is] publicly admitting . . . that journalism is a way of "cooking" the facts»?
(E) How do «really cunning journalists» (1.21) try to «raise the status of journalism in the esteem of the
general public»? (11.22-23)
(F) According to Cockburn, what is the relationship between «the pure gold of truth» (1.28) and the facts in
a journalist's article?
II (A) Read Carr's «What is a Historical Fact?» in Part IV below. Compare Carr's view of the nature of a
historical fact with Cockbum's view of the nature of a Journalist's fact. What do the two views have in
common?
(B) Consider the various means by which each of these writers manages to convey his message. Consider the
following:
a. Does either writer use a serious scholary tone? How would you describe the tone that each uses?
b. Does either writer use orderly, reasoned arguments with logical proofs?
c. What figures of speech does Carr use to suggest that history «is written backwards» (in the same sense
that Cockburn applies this idea to the stories of journalists)?
d. Does either writer manage to convince you of the truth of what he says? If your answer is "yes" try to
decide why, if it is "no", try to explain why not.
From:
AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN NAISBITT,
IN «THE FUTURIST», AUGUST 1985
Question: Do you think young people are moving toward an individualistic lifestyle? If so, how do you
account for the growing conservatism on college campuses and the large numbers of students entering
business schools?
5
Answer: The trend is absolutely toward individualism. But going to business school is not conforming.
It's where the action is. Last year we created 700,000 companies. We've never done that before. It is
10 fantastic. It's true that large numbers of students are studying business, but not a single one I talked to when I
recently visited Harvard wanted to work for a large corporation.They all wanted to start in smaller
companies or start their own business. Business is by far the most exciting sector. When we hear «students
studying business» we have this thing in our head about all these big lumbering bureaucratic corporations.
15 Students aren't thinking about them at all. Those corporations are the old economy.
(Naisbitt is the author of a book called Megatrends. )
Exercise:
1. What does «individualism» mean to you?
2. What does «trend» mean?
3. In what sense does the first sentence in Naisbitt's reply seem paradoxical?
4. Do you think Naisbitt himself is aware of the paradox?
5. What do you think «It's where the action is» (11.6-7) means?
6. How is the above expression (see question 5) related to the idea of «conforming»?
7. If all students want to start in smaller companies, what might an individualist be tempted to do?
8. What does Naisbitt seem to mean by «individualism»?
9. If you look up the word «individualism» in a good English-English dictionary, you will discover many
different meanings, including:
i. the habit of independent thought or action
ii. the pursuit of individual rather than common or collective interests.
A. In which sepse is the Questioner using the word «individualistic»?
a. In which sense/s is Naisbitt using the word «individualism»?