THE BIG STORY

Time International is a famous weekly magazine published in the United States. Each issue features a special article, displayed prominently on the front page and known as the cover story. In the June 8, 1992, issue of Time, on page 2 under the section titled “From the Publisher,” there’s a half-page note. It explains that writing a cover story for the Time is regarded as writing the big story, a goal every journalist dreams of:

“Every journalist dreams of working on the big story.”

For journalists, writing the big story or reporting on a major event is a dream—a source of personal joy. Time reporter Ed Magnuson described it as “real pleasure.”

But there is another class of people who write the big story not for personal joy, but for self-display. They want to write the big story so that their own names shine brighter than others. This is the class of leaders.

It is not objectionable if a journalist writes the big story for his personal joy. But when a leader does it for self-promotion, it becomes harmful. A leader speaks the language of national development, but his real aim is to highlight himself. That is why leaders always make grand speeches—so that their names appear more often, and crowds gather around them. But this kind of leadership is poison for nation-building. True nation-building always comes from working on the “small stories.” Leaders, by nature, only chase the “big story.” The result is that the leader’s image shines, but the nation does not progress.