Three Cups Of Tea Summary

The supposedly non-fictional autobiography of humanitarian Greg Mortenson, Three Cups of Tea, written by himself and journalist David Oliver Relin, is in most critical readers’ opinion a purely fabricated tale. They nonetheless labelled it as non-fictional work and should therefore be investigated as such and under the same ethical principles that apply to any factual piece. But what do we expect from journalists when writing these factual pieces? When crafting the way they communicate their messages, should they aim for an approach that will give their audience a biased perspective? Or would do journalists need to write in a constant impartial tone, where they present only the facts. When it comes to answering these questions in terms of ethical
In this context, independence refers to the complete lack of bias in the author’s opinions. It refers to impartiality, since biases are inclined to give rise to fallacies. Fairness is understood as the absence of one’s conflict of interest, indicating the journalist gives her readers the opportunity for an objective read. “Everyone who has had the privilege of watching Greg Mortenson operate in Pakistan is amazed by how encyclopedically well he has come to know one of the world’s most remote regions” (Relin 3). Although Relin announces his bias from the beginning, his way of idolizing Mortenson goes beyond what is considered acceptable in order to give . In this case, his motivations are questionable and suggest Relin could be financially benefited from the donations encouraged by the book. Jon Krakauer, who wrote Three Cups of Deceit a critique of Relin and Mortenson’s book, has biases of his own. The difference being he does not as explicitly and ultimately announce them as compared to Relin. As he writes: “But Frey, unlike Mortenson, didn’t use his phony memoir to solicit tens of millions of dollars in donations from unsuspecting readers, myself among them” (Krakauer 7), we can detect the hint of resentfulness dictating his opinion. In this instance, Krakauer appeals to the donors, thus causing them to agree with him and to follow his actions to stop donating. Krakauer writes in an even more irritated tone in the last
It gives messages true meaning because we know they have been carefully crafted. It also encourages more ethical behaviors in society and a more pleasant environment among others consequently. Truth, impartiality, fairness, humanity, and accountability contribute to transparency, which increases the credibility and persuasiveness of a message. This benefits both the authors and readers where a truthful report on which people can rely on, will be made public, and on whiat journalists can rely on to get their opinions