Story, not storyteller, important in journalism, myth

  Brian O’Camb O’Camb was the
2000-2001 Daily Bruin Copy Chief. He graduates with a B.A. in
English and digs Norse mythology, music and pirates.

One night last year on the copy desk, my staff was discussing
their early childhoods and where they were born. When the
conversation turned to me, I admitted that I was born in Idaho.

My parents had me while they were living on my
grandparents’ farm. They were so poor that they
couldn’t buy many clothes for me. In the winter, my mom had
to come up with a way to keep me warm. She would wrap two small
potatoes in foil ““ it was a potato farm ““ and toss them
in the fireplace. After they cooked a bit, she’d fish them
out of the fire and gut them.

The potato’s insides were fed to me; the skins went on my
feet to warm them. Some of my earliest steps were taken in potato
slippers.

The managing editor walked in during my account.
“Yeah,” he said, “and I wear broccoli
mittens!”

I watched everyone’s faces fall flat. My bluff had been
called.

Referring to a mythic tale, one of my favorite writers, Neil
Gaiman, wrote, “You shouldn’t trust the storyteller;
only trust the story.”

Often, I call fictitious stories “tales,” since
“story” means something completely different to
journalists. Trusting the story, not its author, is necessary to
fiction. But Gaiman’s quote is just as applicable to
newspapers as it is to myths and legends. Of course, that’s a
hard idea to sell to the community when you work at a university
newspaper.

Many people, especially professors, forget that we at The Bruin
are student journalists in the process of learning the trade. That
doesn’t excuse the occasional biased story or inaccurate
headline, but it explains why we aren’t as good as the L.A.
Times.

But don’t dismiss us as amateurs. Too many hours and GPAs
have gone into this paper to do so. Just remember to trust the
story. Even in the hands of a biased writer, a story will have a
core issue.

If you find our coverage biased, let us know. If you appreciate
a story, call and thank an editor. If you disagree with one of our
ads, protest us.

Community is important to newspapers. When communities stop
reacting to issues, stories die. That’s why media is always
looking for new news. It’s also why so many myths vanish from
the world.

Some stories, such as Homer’s “Odyssey,”
contain issues that stand the test of time. After all, we have
Joyce’s “Ulysses,” and the Coen brothers’
“O Brother, Where Art Thou?”

Another “trusted story” is the Scandinavian legend
of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer who obtains the ring of power. Richard
Wagner took up the legend in his “Ring Cycle,” as did
J.R.R. Tolkien in “The Lord of the Rings.”

I mention the Sigurd story because, in addition to its enduring
quality, the ring nicely sums up the community-story relationship.
Of course, Sigurd’s ring was cursed by a dwarf to cause the
destruction of its owner. But ultimately the ring brought Sigurd
power and made the story go round.

I guess I’ll just have to settle for potato slippers.