In life, who decides what’s the right news?

I thought for this week’s blog I’ll share an excerpt that raises an interesting question, and one that we see playing out in life often…

Who decides what’s the right news?

Yas’s argument with Orfeo

“Anyway, what do you know of my grandpa?”

“Only that he was of great service to our cause,” Orfeo explained. “He was helping us create a peacekeeping force.”

“That’s a lie! Why would he do that?”

“To help smooth the way for change.”

“What change?” Yas asked, angrily.

“The interconnected world,” Orfeo answered, raising his hands to indicate its wonder. “Always on. Always exchanging information. Always providing the opportunity for the right news to be broadcast. A place that needs our influence.”

“What do you mean, the right news? Who decides what is right?” She paused for a moment, and the penny dropped. “Ahh, you mean you?”

Who decides what’s right?

It’s an interesting question to muse on, and I’ve talked about it before in How do the Word Guardians determine the truth . I wanted to share some more about this, though…

It’s said that history is written by the winners, the ones who had the ability to write it down and share it. But also, what we learn from history is that any story is written from a particular perspective, and likely to influence belief in a particular version of events.

We often need to hear varying viewpoints in order to form an opinion and ideally need an indisputable form of establishing what happened, for example multiple pieces of video footage of an event. Ultimately, all we can do is to question what we see from different angles. For what’s being shared, what’s the motivation and from whom? Then the same question needs to be asked for any opponents viewpoints and follow up stories on the matter. Ultimately, increasingly, we can’t take what we see and hear on trust.

It’s your turn

Turning it over to you to consider, how do you decide what’s the actual version of events of a particular story that you see in the news? What do you draw on to try to obtain a balanced view of the story?

And if you’re interested to learn more about the argument between Yas and Orfeo, buy Book 1 The Battle for the Peacekeepers. It’s available in both paperback and kindle editions.

Happy questioning.

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Excerpt from book 1 – Escape from Alexandria

I thought for this week blog I would share an excerpt from my first book The Battle for the Peacekeepers, Escape from Alexandria.

It’s just a small taster to whet your appetite.

Feel free to check out the other excerpts on this site too: When Yas discovers magic and A visit to Victorian London.

Escape from Ancient Alexandria

There was a ‘whoomph’ ahead of them and the doorway appeared. The creatures behind them had also spotted it.

“Sam,” urged Yas, looking behind her and seeing the creatures approaching. She threw another word ball, but this time the creatures just continued towards them, unimpeded.

Sam grabbed Yas and pulled her through the doorway just behind him. He made it through and landed on the carpet in the library but was jerked and pulled backwards. She stopped in mid-air, half in and half out of the portal. She screamed. One of the creatures had grabbed the back of her jacket in its mouth. The other, was trying to get its serpent head through the portal.

“Sam!” Yas screamed. She could see him moving about and trying to brace himself against the edges of the doorway, but her view kept switching between the two worlds.

“I’ve got you,” he shouted back. He grabbed her tightly, kicking the serpent head with one of his feet while pulling Yas as hard as he could. “Hold on!”

Yas kicked behind her, while also reaching her other hand for a better hold on Sam. She was able to push herself up on the sphinx’s head, and in return it lessened its grip. She felt the jacket rip.

“You little. . .!” she shouted angrily behind her, kicking furiously. She heard the creature whimper and then roar. Not wanting to see what it might do next; she looked forwards into the library.

“Sam!” she shouted again in alarm.

Sam continued to kick the other creature, while also defending them both against paw grabs from the first. It was tight for space, but he was able to pull Yas forwards a little at a time. If anything, her kicking against the creatures gave her the better leverage.

Suddenly, surprising them both, an arm appeared behind Sam. The creatures were pushed back sharply out of the doorway and Yas was pulled through. She fell onto the floor while Sam rolled to the side and stood up to see who had helped.

“Close the book!” said Janine Vickers sternly. She stood still, holding her hand out, palm up, uttering words that sounded foreign.

What happens next?

What a roller coaster of a ride! Well, you’ll have to buy the book to find out who Janine Vickers is and why she helped them escape.  Do Sam and Yas leap from the frying pan into the fire? Or not? Buy Book 1 The Battle for the Peacekeepers on Amazon and find out.

Psst… it’s available in both paperback and kindle editions.

Ciao for now!

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