Lit Journalism
Literary journalism is the fruit of journalism. Journalism focuses on general facts and conveys the facts of a story. It encapsulates the bare-essentials of a story; it is a potato.
Literary journalism does what the previous does but also adds a tang of excitement for the audience. It invites the reader to engage on a specific theme or draws a broader picture of a particular issue.
I believe shows like 60 minutes, Nightline, 20/20 etc…would be literary journalism if they were in print (or would they still be considered literary journalism). It allows the writer certain freedoms to explore a particular topic in-depth. Yet, the truth is still paramount.
Particularly, the author can’t round corners. This is still journalism which above all holds the truth and facts high, where as in memoirs and personal essays the truth can be fuzzy. There you can rely on the emotional truth but not in literary journalism.
The writer tries to persuade the audience to a see larger issues rather than having to disseminate from only the facts. I remember reading an article in the New York Times about mining conditions in South America. In that article, they retold stories of a family that suffers hardships in these poor safety conditions.
The larger story is the safety issues with these mines. The vehicle to tell the story was through a family. To me, it doesn’t get clearer than that.
Literary journalism does what the previous does but also adds a tang of excitement for the audience. It invites the reader to engage on a specific theme or draws a broader picture of a particular issue.
I believe shows like 60 minutes, Nightline, 20/20 etc…would be literary journalism if they were in print (or would they still be considered literary journalism). It allows the writer certain freedoms to explore a particular topic in-depth. Yet, the truth is still paramount.
Particularly, the author can’t round corners. This is still journalism which above all holds the truth and facts high, where as in memoirs and personal essays the truth can be fuzzy. There you can rely on the emotional truth but not in literary journalism.
The writer tries to persuade the audience to a see larger issues rather than having to disseminate from only the facts. I remember reading an article in the New York Times about mining conditions in South America. In that article, they retold stories of a family that suffers hardships in these poor safety conditions.
The larger story is the safety issues with these mines. The vehicle to tell the story was through a family. To me, it doesn’t get clearer than that.
posted by Red Head Matt at 5:48 AM
1 Comments:
Ha - so if journalism is a potato - does that make literary journalism . . .mashed potatoes? potato souffle? scalloped potatoes? (potatoes with the embellishment of other ingredients?)
I am not sure the 60 minutes people would be happy about being lit journalism. I think some of what is on NPR may be lit journalism - but it is not SIMPLY in-depth reporting. There is that matter of the narrative.
Lit journalism makes a story so that if you were reading it to get the facts (instead of for the pleasure of reading) you might get fairly frustrated.
So there are differences in audience, form, purpose, and style -- and it all comes down to potatoes.
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