Journalism Class - Thursday October 20

[jerusalem-s.livejournal.com]

Spider is staring suspiciously at a bowl of cold cereal which is resting on the center of his desk. Beside it sits a box with a goofy looking cartoon character with a large, blue hat. Waiting until his students are mostly settled, he finally looks up to address them.

"We've dealt with a number of shifts in personality, disguises, extreme body modification and outright impersonations since the beginning of the term. A surprisingly small number of people have questioned any of these things or even caught on to them in a timely fashion and I'm becoming somewhat disappointed in the way that you, aspiring journalists, have ceased to question some of these issues. Professor Williams is a very good case in point. Mugged, impersonated...." Spider shook his head sadly. "You're supposed to be journalists, people whose job it is to get to the heart and truth of the matter, not only to expose the truth... but to discover the lies."

He prodded cautiously at the bowl, which continued to do nothing. "Exposing the hidden truth is the very heart of journalism. Reading the subtext, hearing the things which aren't said, learning to pick and choose the things that are true from an interview or investigation are what I'm supposed to be teaching you. I want every student today to make three statements. Two of them should be true, one of them should be false - all should be plausible. I want each student to examine the statements made by the others and decide which is the false statement."

Comments

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

Beka puts herself between Angela and D'Anna, to help screen the conversation. "I don't really know what to say. I'm sorry seems ridiculous. Is it permanent?" Warm, genuine sympathy floods her voice, despite her inability to come up with inappropriate words.

[chasingangela]

Angela smiles a little, touched by Beka's sympathy. "I don't know. I think so, but people keep telling me it will blow over." She bites on a thumbnail. "We're both going on the Plotting Zoo trip this weekend, so maybe we can talk then. If he even wants to talk to me, which I wouldn't blame him if he didn't. I said some pretty rotten things."

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

"Hey. He's the one who talks about redemption. He ought to understand forgiveness. It sounds like you're sorry. So... hopefully it will work out."

[chasingangela]

Angela shrugs. "Maybe. I'm not even sure I would want to get back with him, you know? I mean, just the way he looked at me during our fight..." she looks grim. "It was the first time I could see why he was good at what he used to do."

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

Beka studies her. "I'm not sure I think you mean that. Your feelings are really strong for him, good and bad." With a wry, self-effacing smile, she continues, "You've seen past me looking like I'd be good at what he used to do."

[chasingangela]

Angela shrugs, looking down at her desk. "Strong feelings aren't a reason to stay with someone if it doesn't work, are they? And ... yeah, you could do what he used to do. But it's different to see that in a boyfriend than in a friend. That might not totally make sense, but whatever, it's true," she says softly.

She looks up at Beka with a half-smile. "But thank you for believing in us. Even if we don't work it out, and I'm not sure we will ... it means something that you wanted us to."

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

Beka puts out her hand. "The only reason to be with someone, I think, is because your feelings are so strong you can't stop thinking about them. Good or bad. I understand that it's different, me and Marty. I just think you can get past it. If you want to. But that's something it sounds like you're going to need some time to think about."

With a shrug and a smile that says she's uncomfortable with the sentiment, but not displeased, Beka says, "I believe that the things we want, we'll work for. And if we work, we often get them. I hope you get what you want."

[chasingangela]

Angela keeps her eyes on her desk. "I mean, we didn't break up over what he used to do. I've known about that for a month, I can deal with it. Just ... stuff gets complicated, you know?"

"I do think I need time to think. That's what I want now. Well, that and to be able to rewind time to when we were happy, but ... not going to get that."