Dr. Jerry Gilbert

Clinical Psychologist

Denver, Colorado

Dr. Gilbert

Dear Editor:

The main issue in last week’s “Our Story” column (11/13/25 in Archives) is about the role of a reporter. I have no experience with reporting, editing, or working on newspapers. But I have opinions. I think there is more than one kind of reporter. There are those who write like Jack Webb and report a story just as a photograph or video records events (of course, photographers & videographers choose what to film), and just like people on TV who report the news as written.

There are also reporters, perhaps investigative journalists, who are expected to report facts and add an interpretation. Then there are those who write on the opinion page who are primarily concerned with interpretation, with some facts thrown in. I agree that editors decide the responsibility of each kind of reporter…

Although Plato’s allegory of the cave was intended to give metaphorical perspective to the main issue, the nature of reality is a separate issue. I think that shadows are a reality, a separate reality. They are experienced by the senses and can be filmed. Most moviegoers know that the characters in a film are not people in the common sense of people we have daily contact with. But if they are emotionally engaged, the separation becomes blurred. Fans of actors base their reactions on the roles the actors play. A good actor who typically plays “bad guy” characters probably doesn’t achieve the same fandom. But my point is that a movie is real and the actors are real and the characters feel real. Therefore, the portrayals are forms of reality (even our feelings are a form of reality). Besides, we assume that while we are seeing a story being portrayed, we believe that the characters are based on a collection of real people and incidents.

We become used to thinking there is only one type of reality (except for those who believe in the supernatural). I think there are many types of reality which we put into separate categories and call them unreal (illusions, dreams, delusions, hallucinations, films, drug-induced states, meditative states, etc.). If we ask a group of people to describe an event, we will find multiple descriptions. If the event was filmed, we can compare the group’s versions with an accepted objective version. Does that mean that all those who reported an incorrect version did not experience a reality? Each species shares its own reality, and within an advanced species like humans, each person experiences their own reality with much overlap.

Whether you agree or not, our opinions are real.