Does Truth Require a True Portrayal of the Writer?

Once again, The Bulldog (SC-BU's newspaper) is up and running for the semester. Mitch held a meeting, and I just went to go see what was going on. Before I knew what was going on however, I was being assigned stories, and contributing my own ideas. Oh how easy it is to convince a writer to write.

The next day, as I am running from class to class, Nikki stops me and hands me a sheet with my first assignment, and tells me to attend the meeting later that day. I look at my assignment. It's a basic write-up on the new club in school--UMOJA-NIA. UMOJA-NIA is a club that encourages African American culture. It's an easy assingment and I didn't think too much about it, even while I was writing the piece.

My dilema comes later that day, while I am at the meeting. Danielle (one of the page editors) needs an opinion piece to counter her own. The article is supposed to be on why schools should teach absitence only education. Sadly, our newspaper lacks neo-cons, and no one could honestly writer the counter argument. Still, I volunteered for it.

I know I can write the piece, that's not the dilema looming ahead of me. I wonder if writing an opinion piece that I don't agree with is wrong. Am I misleading people to who I am? Does that matter? Can I stomach the knowledge that I may persuade someone to agree with me? Does that matter?

So I talk to my girlfriend. She laughes at me. She sees nothing wrong with me writing a piece like that. "Why not?" she asks, "They need the piece, who cares who writes it?"

I gues she's right. As long as I am true to the agenda that I am writing about, it's not really my opinion. I am just speaking for those whose voice we don't have. I doubt this small piece will convince anyone to chage thier mind. I am just going to give those who already agree with it more points, and those who disagree more to think about. Even if it does change someone's mind, it's not my ideas. I am just a vessel for the absitence only education people.

Still, I am writing this one under a pseudonym. Look for my article in The Bulldog under the name Jack Smith.