Where did this come from? Part one

More of this: Part A Part B Part C Part D Part F

I've got this one and one more before I finish this series, which I'm starting to fear is maybe boring. But then, lots of things that interest me bore other people. Too late to do anything about that now.

Seeking to authenticate something, the art-and-antiques world demands to know its "provenance" - a history of where it came from and whose hands it has passed through on its journey to the present.

It would be responsible to demand the same from the supposed "facts" one blogs about. Watch out for laundering: something which starts as supposition may look like fact a generation or two later in a new location. Here's an example:

How to achieve quote laundering (As taught to me by a wily old professional in the music biz.) I learned this technique from the mouth of a venerable Sephardic musician whom I shall call Joe Medina in order to protect his trade secret. Joe was an old hand at self-promotion. Here's how you do it: Joe is interviewed by a newspaper, let's call it the Brooklyn Mirror. He says casually to the reporter, "some people have called me the last authentic Ladino musican in New York." The paper runs the interview. It says, "Joe Medina is the last authentic Ladino musician in New York." Joe uses the quote in his publicity: "Joe Medina is the last authentic Ladino Musician in New York - Brooklyn Mirror."

As "wetware" asked (see my previous post), "Every day we take in a lot of information ... But where is it coming from? ... [I want] to see if my sources are colored by the influence of a single media company, religious group or government; the Bush administration or Michael Moore; the WWF for Nature or Texaco ..."

Technorati Tags: Authentic, Source, History