Participatory Culture, Politics

Excuse me. Can you tell me who lied about the rain?

Journalism 101: “If someone says it’s raining & another person says it’s dry, it’s not your job to quote them both. Your job is to look out the fucking window and find out which is true.” – Journalism Tutor via Sally Claire

I first came across this meme on Twitter in later 2018. I found it interesting, retweeted, and moved on.

Then it came up again.

And again.

And again.

If you search Twitter for “journalism OR journalist AND raining“, you will find it, along with variations, used on a regular basis.

Being someone who enjoys source material, I wanted to see if I could track down more information about this quote.

And no. It wasn’t your journalism teacher, professor, or tutor.

The earliest source of this quote I could find (thanks to Google Books) is from the book Fighting Words: Independent Journalists in Texas which states it is from the 1940s journalist, Hubert Mewhinney, writing in the Texas Spectator:

Writing in the Texas Spectator in the late 1940s, Hubert Mewhinney criticized the timidity–and inadequacy–of the objective approach to writing the news. “If Jimmy Allred says it’s raining, and W. Lee O’Daniel says it isn’t raining, Texas newspapermen quote them both, and don’t look out the window to see which is lying, and to tell the readers what the truth is at the moment.”

I appreciate the nuance of this quote because it forces the journalist to learn who is lying and report what the truth is regarding rain, truth telling, and lying. No bullshit allowed.

Ask me about public records some time.

But I slightly digress.

I did try to see if I could find copies of the Texas Spectator online, however, I could not. If you happen across the original article, please share the information.

I have this book on my To Read list as it seems incredibly fascinating. Check out this wordcloud (view the image to see more detail):

You can borrow it from your Library (this WorldCat search may help) or purchase it from Amazon.