‘Lean not on your own understanding’: Why news reporters have sources
A word from Proverbs 3
Proverbs 3:5: “Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”
You ever wonder why you were born into a world approaching 8 billion people, all of them different from you and each other?
It’s because all of those 8 billion have value. They know things we do not. They’ve walked paths we have not. They have so much to teach.
We have a human fascination with other people and their stories. Before there was a news business, there was gossip. People would pass the time trading scraps of information about their family, friends and neighbors. The more you gossiped, the more scraps you had to offer.
The news is a professionalized version of gossip, with higher standards and a much bigger audience.
Your neighbor’s flow of information is limited by who they like and who likes them. The news talks to everybody, including to people who don’t talk to each other.
In that multiplicity of sourcing, in its willingness to put names to claims, more truth is told than in the leaps and guesses of backyard gossip. Don’t try this at home.
Reporters not only call the people directly mentioned in a story, but experts whose knowledge of history or how things work can put the news in context.
Even on the opinion side, the best columnists and editorial writers are reporters at heart.
The reporter does not believe they know everything. They believe there is an answer to every question. Those answers are found in talking to many people familiar with the matter. In asking questions, reporters also learn which questions to ask.
Each story is a little different. And reporters are only as good as their last one.
Sourcing is an intelligence multiplier. But there is no intelligence when you lean on your own understanding. The best you can do is guess, while not knowing what you don’t know.
Proverbs 20:18: “Make plans by seeking advice; if you wage war, obtain guidance.”
When we are prideful, and go it alone, things go badly. Only then are we humble enough to try it another way. Maybe. If we have learned the lesson.
Proverbs 29:23: “A man’s pride brings him low, but a man’s lowly spirit grows honor.”
Proverbs and the rest of the Bible carry multiple warnings against going it alone in life. Wisdom is found in seeking out counsel.
Ask advice. Ask for help. Ask for guidance. You won’t have to ask for wisdom — you’ll get it walking the path.