For some reason I kept thinking about this. I was living in East Austin, at the time, and the daily newspaper was delivered about 4 AM. More or less. Maybe 5, I’m not sure. But I quite subscribing, in part because I was traveling a lot and to keep canceling the paper for the away weekends, and then, I noticed, about the time AOL went to a flat rate, I was reading news online, then reading the identical copy in the paper, the next day.
For me, in my life, that’s when the tiniest of incidents that changed the way I perceived the world around me. The moment it changed. The singular point, the merest pinprick in time.
I’ve been on two sides of a “relationship issue” with a couple. Astrological marriage counseling, to some. Two stories, and sometimes? The stories don’t even match up. Plot, characters, actions, reactions? I have to wonder if the two people are describing parallel universes wherein the names are the same, but the scene they describe? Different.
One reason I never claim to be objective and impartial. Which brings the question of “objective journalism” into the fray. As if.
I think this is really about delivery. Content delivery as opposed to the nature of the content.
I often deal with conflict in my job. I, too, have had the sensation that the opposing sides have come from a different universe, aren’t talking about the same event. I have recused myself when friends are involved, because there’s no such thing as impartial, objective for me when I know the people on a personal level.
On the other hand, I usually know the combatants professionally–I’ve been in this position for xxxty years–and can make better attempts at resolution, I believe, knowing the past work history of both people. Usually I run it past my boss, also a long-time employee, before rolling it out to the people involved. We serve as sounding boards for each other, that way.
It would be hard/risky/too subjective to go it alone.