Beth Chonoles
Corporate Communications
Michael Goodman

Briefing #1
“Truth Be Told” and “In Bed With Wall Street”

“Truth Be Told”
During the event “Truth Be Told”, held at the Vertical Campus at Baruch College, a panel of professionals discussed their experiences with the search for truth regarding methods used, outcomes and results, and any personal opinions they have regarding the search for truth. The panel consisted of four professionals in different fields. Each panelist provided an example or story for how the truth was sought in their respective fields.
Dr. Harold E. Varmus, Director of the National Cancer Institute, explained that in science, finding the truth boiled down to following several steps. There is a method for finding the truth when science is involved. First start with the problem, from there you hypothesize about the results, gather data and analyze the data, before reaching any sort of conclusion. Oftentimes the process is repeated to insure validity. There is often the problem of having inadequate tools to make observations that lead to the right conclusions. It isn’t that people are wrong; they just don’t have the right information. He referred to FFP, Fabrication, Falsification, and Plagiarism. These are obstacles in the path to finding truth. The search for truth in the field of science is done following rules that are set into stone.
Margaret Sullivan, Public Editor from The New York Times, spoke on what the search for truth is like in the field of journalism. The truth finding process in journalism does not have the same rules as it does in science. In fact she referred to journalism as an “inexact science or not a science at all.” Information is mostly got through informants, anonymous ones most of the time. There can be no way of validating the information unless another source – a valid source - has the same information and is willing to allow his/her name to be associated with it, and most of the time a paper must run corrections for a story from the previous day.
Jane Aiken, Associate Dean for Experiential Education and Professor of Law at Georgetown University, spoke of the truth finding process in the field of law. When looking for the truth within the realm of the law both sides present the facts and the fact finder (a judge or jury) decides the truth. After they have the facts judge or jury will then apply their own common sense.
In each and every field there is some process for finding the truth. There are always biases and obstacles that will impede the process but, for those who seek the truth the truth will be found. The truth is always there, one need only follow the path to it.

“In Bed With Wall Street”
In this program the author of the