Tag Archives: reporting

Down memory lane

I finally put together the several loose sheets containing words of farewell bid me by my peers at the end of our secondary school days. As I was finalising the year book, I could not help but go through some of those words again. Twelve years down the line, some of those words still motivate me. In particular, the words of a peer who turned out to be the best graduating student of her department at the university struck me.

She wished me success in my endeavours and noted that at some point in my life, I may not succeed in some of my endeavours as I would wish, but that at such times, I should look inwards and remember how I had fared in the past and thereby encourage myself to persevere.

Looking at those words today, I realise that those were the words of a teenage sage. The truth is I have had periods of low and even failure since that time and in those periods, I was able to persevere by keeping it at the back of my mind that tough people outlast tough times.

So, I sign out by encouraging anyone going through a tough situation to keep keeping on!

News bearing vs. Talebearing

After breaking some news the other day, it suddenly dawned on me that there can sometimes be a fine line between news bearing and talebearing.

News bearing is simply the art or act (if you like) of delivering information – be it good or bad – to another person. Talebearing on the other hand, is the spreading of gossip, secrets, etc., that may cause trouble or harm. Thus while news bearing can be regarded as reporting without any malicious intent, talebearing is reporting with malicious intent. Indeed, talebearing may involve garnishing the truth in varying degrees which may even involve an outright lie.

Some people seem to derive an almost perverse pleasure from being the first to transmit bad news; and they seem to perform the act on a regular basis. Such people, in my view, are no different from talebearers.

As I sign out, I urge us (and that includes me!) to examine ourselves to determine whether we are actually news bearers or mere talebearers; and retrace our steps if we fall into the latter category!