Fables of Fact: A closer look at literary journalism

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Fables of FactA closer look at literary
journalism

• by
• Tammy Ballew

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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

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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

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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
  Capotes In Cold Blood.
• Some writers left the journalism profession and
  began writing non-fiction novels.
• Some chose literary journalism
• Others chose Gonzo journalism

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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SPEAK UP!

• Do you think there should be more literary
• journalism in newspapers today?
• I think it would make
• the paper a lot more
• interesting.
• -Kelly Pate
• Junior
• Middle Grades Ed.
• Math Language Arts
• major

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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 Barrett
• Freshman
• undecided

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Speak Up!

• Well, honestly I dont read the paper because
  its boring. I mean, I read it when there is
  something really important, but not usually, so
  it wouldnt matter to me really.
• -Jon Christerson
• Sophomore
• Mass Media Major (film)

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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

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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.

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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.

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Ditch the bore

• Let me be blunt. Newspapers bite. The work isnt
  much fun anymore, thanks to the soul-snatching
  corporate culture that has euthanized newsroom
  personalities. Most papers reflect that
  numbers-crunching, cubicle-hunkering mentality.
  Were boring, predictable, staid and out of touch
  with the folks with quarters.
• Kathleen Parker, journalist at townhall.com

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Why save time?

• 41 of Americans read the newspaper
• They only spend about 15 minutes on each paper.
• Perhaps readershalf at leastwould 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

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People relate to stories

• Hurricane KatrinaDon 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.

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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

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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.

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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 Harrys education, his financial status,
  and where he lived?

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One last quote from Don Schanche

• What we struggle with in the newspaper is that
  so many people dont 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.

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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.
  lthttp//www.readinggroupguides.com/guides3/
  friday_night_lights2.aspgt
• Berry, Stephen J. Why Objectivity still
  matters. Neiman Reports. 59.2 (2005)
  Communication and Mass Media Complete. 6 Oct.
  2005.

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• Boyton, Robert S. Drilling into the Bedrock of
  Ordinary Experience. Chronicle of Higher
  Education. 51.26 (2005) Academic Search Premier.
  13 Sept. 2005. lthttp//search.epnet.com/login.aspx
  ?directtruedbaphan16411757gt
• French, Thomas. Angels and Demons. St.
  Petersburg Times. 26 Oct. 1999. 10 Sept. 2005.
  lthttp//www2.sptimes.com/Angels_Demons/default.htm
  lgt
• Friday Night Lights Scores at the Box Office.
  About. 1 Oct. 2005. lthttp//movies.about.com/od/f
  ridaynightlights/a/ friday101104.htmgt
• Hunter S. Thompson's remains shot from cannon.
  Associated Press. ESPN. 21 Aug. 2005. 9 Oct.
  2005. lthttp//sports.espn.go.com/
  espn/news/story?id 2139349CMP
  OTC-DT9705204233gt
• Kennedy, George, Daryl R. Moen, and Don Ranly.
• Beyond the Inverted Pyramid. New York St.
  Martins Press, 1993.

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• 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. lthttp//www.ctstateu.edu/univrel/
  ctreview/spring96/pmljnlbh.htmlgt
• Public's News Habits Little Changed by September
  11. The Pew Research Center. 9 June 2002. 8
  Oct. 2005. lt http//people-press.org/reports/displ
  ay.php3?PageID 612gt
• 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.
  lthttp//www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/local/1260787
  8.htmgt
• Schanche, Don. Personal Interview