[WikiEN-l] Re: NPOV

[The Cunctator]

> From: Sheldon Rampton
> Regarding the idea of simply "reporting things that really exist,"
> Cunctator  wrote:
> 
> >Yes. Fortunately we can rely on the pool of perfectly accurate,
> >non-propagandizing, value-judgmentless historical references to do
so.
> >
> >Oops, they don't exist.
> 
> Actually, they do. For example, "Napoleon Bonaparte died on May 5,
> 1821" is a statement whose accuracy no one seriously disputes, and it
> doesn't carry any particular propaganda or value judgments. Whether
> you believe that Napoleon was a great leader or a foolish despot,
> you're bound to agree on the date of his death.

There's a difference between accurate statements and accurate
references. I didn't say that accurate statements don't exist. I said
that "perfectly accurate, non-propagandizing, value-judgmentless
historical references" don't exist.

Even in that one sentence are a variety of value judgments, starting
with the language used to express such a statement, as well as the name
used to describe "Napoleon Bonaparte", to the choice of calendar by
which to mark the date of his death. Those are minor choices, and I
would agree that it would be counterproductive to challenge the
statement.

But when you accumulate the sum of the thousands of minor (and major)
choices that go into any reference work (such as whether or not to
discuss the death of Napoleon), you get an unavoidable bias.