You are correct.
However, I’d like to add a caveat.
There are an infinite number of facts. The person writing a history or a news article must pick out which facts he thinks are relevant. By definition (and necessity) he is thereby suppressing some of the facts.
Then from the facts he chooses as relevant he constructs an explanation of what those facts mean. This is the second layer of interpretation and by far the most important.
Every historian or reporter must go through these two steps. The honest ones try to step outside their own preferences and beliefs when doing so, but nobody can truly succeed at that.
So the difference between honest and dishonest historians and reporters is that the honest ones are honest with themselves and their readers as to what their preferences and beliefs are, they don’t attempt to pass their constructed explanation off as “fully objective,” something that is quite impossible for mere humans to achieve.
Great points.
That is what I tried to explain once-—that there is always a bias in “stories” even if you don’t think there is. Every time you go beyond the real facts, like time, place, victim, etc. embellishment always happens, in making a cohesive paragraph.
Even place and time-—all things can be given a bias-—twist—emphasis—to make it seem more important than it is...or less...or whatever.
That is why Socrates never wrote any of his philosophy down. He knew people would misinterprete what he said because they wouldn’t be able to listen to him in real time and hear his inflections, or visualize the scene exactly as he meant it to be, etc.
News today is all about perceptions......what “feelings” the stories evoke-—when done by the Leftists. Skinner methodology. Their agenda demands the “correct” emotion to be evoked in their “stories”. If it is about homosexuals-—you have to think “good, moral people” or it won’t run. If it is about rich white men, you have to think “evil” or it won’t run. If it is about The One—it has to evoke “awe” and “respect”.
It is why I quit listening to TV and newspapers——they are a waste of time since it is filled with lies and half-truths to further their agenda.
The internet is great because I can select Thomas Sowell or whoever has integrity.