Benghazi Six Months Later

The Washington Post is running an article entitled, "Benghazi E-mails Show Clash Between State Department, CIA."  The article reports, "New details from administration e-mails about last year’s attacks on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, demonstrate that an intense bureaucratic clash took place between the State Department and the CIA over which agency would get to tell the story of how the tragedy unfolded." 

Questions for Discussion: 

1. Why does this article refer to the information that came out about the events at Benghazi as a story?  Is it appropriate to refer to these news reports as stories?  Why or why not? 

2. What does it mean "to tell a story"? 

3. Why are stories powerful?  What is the purpose of a story?

4.   If you could tell one story as an exemplar about your life, what would you tell?  Why?  

5. Is it possible to have two or more stories about the same event, with each story being true?  Why or why not? Is this even an important question?  Why or why not? 

6. When a story is about a current event that effects an entire county, or even the world, is it important to try and ensure that the story is wholly correct?  Why or why not? Is it more important to try and ensure that this kind of a story is wholly correct than it is to ensure that a story about a small group of people is wholly correct?  Why or why not? 

7. What questions would you ask about the story described in this article to try and learn more about it?