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
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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 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
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
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 numberscrunching, 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 reexperience 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&a
n=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://peoplepress.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