Fables of Fact:A closer look at literary journalism

by

Tammy Ballew

Familiar Works

• In Cold Blood —Truman Capote

• Friday Night Lights —H.G. Bissinger– Recently made into a movie in

2004 that was directed by Peter Berg

• “Angels and Demons”—Thomas French

– www2.sptimes.com/Angels_Demons/default.html

Defining Literary Journalism

• “You know it when you see it”– Mark Krammer, co-author of Literary Journalism

• “(Literary Journalism) is the marriage of depth reporting and literary techniques in newspaper writing”

– Thomas Berner – professor of journalism and American studies, Pennsylvania State University

• “It is the application of fiction writing techniques to journalistic fact.”

– Patricia Miller, professor of English, Valdosta State University

New Journalism Movement• writers were “saddled with rules and

formulas that made it impossible for them to deal adequately with their subjects and consequently, revolted against the inverted pyramid.”

• New Journalism seems to have began with Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood.

• Some writers left the journalism profession and began writing non-fiction novels.

• Some chose literary journalism• Others chose Gonzo journalism

Gonzo Journalism

• Gonzo journalism sprouted from the new journalism movement

• Dr. Miller, professor of English at VSU has called the genre the “look at me” form of journalism

• Hunter S. Thompson has been called the pioneer of Gonzo journalism

Accuracy: Nothing but the truth

• Accuracy is correctness or precision

• Everything must be 100% true

• Janet Cooke The Washington Post

• Facts should be double checked

• Most problems happen in quotations

• Sometimes changes are made diliberately

• Ways to fix quotations

Objectivity: Leaving bias at home

• Objectivity is writing without prejudice or personal emotions

• “More and more, reporters who still view objectivity as our guide and goal stand out like someone wearing a suit at a Metallica concert.”

– Stephen J. Berry “Why Objectivity still matters

• … “victories over superstitions of the mind.”– Walter Lipmann, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner

Authority: Becoming empowered• Authority is the right to govern or command. It is

the power to influence derived from reputation. It is what gives a journalist the right to write what he/she does.

• Journalists get authority from authoritative, credible sources.

• Without Authority, a journalist would simply be speaking his/her own view.

• Establishing Authority allows the reader trust that what the writer is saying is true.

SPEAK UP! Do you think there should be more literaryjournalism in newspapers today?

“I think it would makethe paper a lot moreinteresting.”

-Kelly PateJunior Middle Grades Ed.

Math & Language Artsmajor

Speak Up!

“The main thing I read is the headline news that is important, but it gets so boring in the middle. I think some of it would be better with more narrative.”-Ryan BarrettFreshmanundecided

Speak Up!

“Well, honestly I don’t read the paper because its boring. I mean, I read it when there is something really important, but not usually, so it wouldn’t matter to me really.”

-Jon Christerson

Sophomore

Mass Media Major (film)

Speak Up!

“Yes. It allows the reader to see every side of the story through description, dialogue, and detailed narrative. It engages the reader, which is hard to do in the print medium.”

-Courtney McConnell

Junior

English Major

Give me narrative or give me death

• Journalism needs to be more entertaining

• people search for good entertainment. Why else would there be movies, sitcoms, novels, short stories, music, etc?

• The inverted Pyramid is effective, but boring.

• A movie written in the inverted pyramid would not be half as enjoyable.

Finding Nemo in inverted pyramid

• Today in Australia, a father clown fish is reunited with his son Nemo. On a school trip, Nemo wandered too far from the drop off and was scooped up by a diver….

Ditch the bore

• “Let me be blunt. Newspapers bite. The work isn’t much fun anymore, thanks to the soul-snatching corporate culture that has euthanized newsroom personalities. Most papers reflect that numbers-crunching, cubicle-hunkering mentality. We’re boring, predictable, staid and out of touch with the folks with quarters.”

– Kathleen Parker, journalist at townhall.com

Why save time?

• 41% of Americans read the newspaper• They only spend about 15 minutes on each

paper. • “…Perhaps readers—half at least—would prefer

a verbal and visual kick in the pants, a rush of adrenaline to wake them up....”

– Tony Sutton, from his keynote speech at the Scandinavian Society for News and Design.

• “People barely glance at what is already there…”– Josh Stone, a senior, English major, VSU

People relate to stories

• Hurricane Katrina—Don Schanche• Readers are able to feel more connected• Readers can hear and see Pryer in their

mind. They are given a chance to relate to him.

• Literary journalism allows readers to re-experience events.

• Great stories can transport people to another place.

Don Schanche

• Profile feature- a story about a prominent person.

• Don Schanche is a senior writer at the Macon Telegraph.

• “I sort of fell into it.”

• Prize winning stories on mental health issues

Stumbling across a great story

• “I happened to meet Harry and just asked hum to tell me his story, and he told me this amazing story,” Don explains. “It seemed to me that it was such a powerful story to hear him tell it that readers would get a sense of the power if it was told, not as an inverted lead news story, but as a tale like he told it. That was what I pretty much tried to present.”

Quotes

• “‘I wish I coulda did more than what I did,’ he said with a catch in his voice, ‘But I look at it and say the Lord let me did what he wanted me to do.’”

• The quote is written just as Harry said it, even with incorrect grammar. This adds human element.

• Just from reading that quote what could you say about Harry’s education, his financial status, and where he lived?

One last quote from Don Schanche

• “What we struggle with in the newspaper is that so many people don’t have the time to read what we write. Things need to be tightly presented and nothing but the facts. At the same time, however, there is a great hunger for a good story. People relate to the stories of other people, whether it is just a good yarn for its own sake or a way for a person to enter in for better understanding of a larger social issue.”

Sources

Applegate, Ed. Literary Journalism: A Biographical Dictionary of Writers and Editors. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1996.

“Author Interview: H. G. Bissinger.” De Capo Press. Reading Groupies. 10 Oct. 2005. <http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides3/ friday_night_lights2.asp>

Berry, Stephen J. “Why Objectivity still matters.” Neiman Reports. 59.2 (2005): Communication and Mass Media Complete. 6 Oct. 2005.

Boyton, Robert S. “Drilling into the Bedrock of Ordinary Experience.” Chronicle of Higher Education. 51.26 (2005): Academic Search Premier. 13 Sept. 2005. <http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=16411757>

French, Thomas. “Angels and Demons.” St. Petersburg Times. 26 Oct. 1999. 10 Sept. 2005. <http://www2.sptimes.com/Angels_Demons/default.html>

“Friday Night Lights Scores at the Box Office.” About. 1 Oct. 2005. <http://movies.about.com/od/fridaynightlights/a/ friday101104.htm>

“Hunter S. Thompson's remains shot from cannon.” Associated Press. ESPN. 21 Aug. 2005. 9 Oct. 2005. <http://sports.espn.go.com/ espn/news/story?id= 2139349&CMP =OTC-DT9705204233>

Kennedy, George, Daryl R. Moen, and Don Ranly. Beyond the Inverted Pyramid. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1993.

Klement, Alice M. and Carolyn B. Matalene, eds. Telling Stories Taking Risks. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1998.

Kramer, Mark and Norman Sims. eds. Literary Journalism. New York: Ballantine Books, 1995.

Many, Paul. “Literary Journalism: Newspapers’ Last, Best Hope.” Connecticut Review. 1996. 21 Sept. 2005. <http://www.ctstateu.edu/univrel/ ctreview/spring96/pmljnlbh.html>

“Public's News Habits Little Changed by September 11.” The Pew Research Center. 9 June 2002. 8 Oct. 2005. < http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?PageID =612>

Schanche, Don. “After the Levees Broke: New Orleans’ Harry Pryer Estimates he and the Ninth Ward Rangers Saved Hundred of Lives.” The Macon Telegraph. 10 Sept. 2005. 13 Sept. 2005. <http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/local/12607878.htm>

Schanche, Don. Personal Interview