I knew that a historian (or a journalist, or anyone telling a story) was forced to choose, out of an infinite number of facts, what to present, what to omit. And that decision inevitably would reflect, whether consciously or not, the interests of the historian.

Howard Zinn
About This Quote

The historian, the journalist, or the person telling a story, makes a choice about what to include and what to leave out. This choice is very much influenced by the agenda of the historian or newspaper or person telling the story; it is not an impartial decision. The choice is not made in an objective way; it is made with many personal prejudices, perceptions, personal interests, and even prejudices of history. When you choose to write about someone with whom you disagree, you are most likely writing exclusively about that person.

You are writing what you want to be read. If the purpose of the historian or journalist or storyteller is to present what happened as accurately as possible, then they must choose not to omit any facts that might contradict their own agenda. It’s not possible for them to be completely impartial. A good storyteller will always balance out his biases with some facts about which he is neutral.

But this neutrality does not eliminate bias from the process of storytelling.

Source: A Peoples History Of The United States

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