{"id":11467,"date":"2024-09-20T12:00:51","date_gmt":"2024-09-20T12:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2024\/09\/20\/new-journalism-literary-nonfiction-sources-ethics\/"},"modified":"2025-03-18T15:26:28","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T15:26:28","slug":"new-journalism-literary-nonfiction-sources-ethics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2024\/09\/20\/new-journalism-literary-nonfiction-sources-ethics\/","title":{"rendered":"5 shared lessons from some masters of narrative nonfiction"},"content":{"rendered":"    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>EDITOR\u2019S NOTE:<em>&nbsp;A version of this piece is co-posted with our friends at the Donald W.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/rjionline.org\/news\/5-lessons-from-narrative-journalists\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Reynolds Journalism Institute<\/a>&nbsp;at the Missouri School of Journalism.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">When I went to journalism school after studying piano performance as an undergrad, I encountered a fair number of raised eyebrows. The two fields might not seem intrinsically related, but they are for me. Both musicians and journalists create order out of chaos, telling stories that are true and, in their own ways, beautiful.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>During my senior year of college, as I made the decision to apply to journalism master\u2019s programs, I took a creative nonfiction class with&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/andrewbratcher.com\/\">Drew Bratcher<\/a>. He introduced us to one piece of writing that has stayed with me ever since,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/s35767.pcdn.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Paterniti_-One_Eleven_Heavy_Esquire_July2000.pdf\">\u201cThe Long Fall of One-Eleven Heavy,\u201d<\/a>&nbsp;written by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.penguinrandomhouse.com\/authors\/23308\/michael-paterniti\/\">Michael Paterniti<\/a>&nbsp;and originally published in 2000 in Esquire.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>This piece is about a 1998 plane crash that left no survivors. It is a bizarre, horrifying yet beautiful account of the effort to identify victims and of the grief of the victims\u2019 family members. It is bookmarked with what is essentially&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/stories\/whys-this-so-good-no-33-michael-paterniti-long-fall-of-111-heavy-thomas-curwen\/\">a prose poem<\/a>&nbsp;about the night of the crash.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>I can\u2019t do it justice here, but it taught me that journalism can be beautiful. Perhaps more importantly, journalism about tragedy and pain can be beautiful. So turning from music to writing journalism never seemed like too big a leap.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-heading   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Nonfiction built with characters and scenes<\/h2>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>Narrative journalism, or what some call literary journalism, is not new. It was popularized by the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/nymag.com\/article\/tom-wolfe-birth-of-new-journalism-eyewitness-report.html\">New Journalism<\/a>&nbsp;of the 1960s and 1970s, but it has continued in various iterations across mediums and publications. Literary journalism has, at times, raised ethical questions. The nature of narrative means that journalists often need to become intimately familiar with their sources and the personal, stylized approach to writing can sometimes seem less objective.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>However, I chose to research narrative journalism because I wanted to understand what it does well. Why do journalists gravitate towards this type of journalism? Many of the answers are embedded in the very way they go about their work. As part of my master\u2019s study at the Missouri School of Journalism, I reached out to several. They talked about crafting nonfiction narratives by thinking about characters and scenes. They talked about how lucky they feel to be able to tell compelling stories in a way that helps the reader understand issues at a deeper and more personal level. They spoke to me about doing the kind of work that made me fall in love with journalism in the first place.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>Here are some key things I learned:<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-heading   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Your writing is only as good as your material.<\/h3>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>If you want to write a scene, you need enough details to make the reader feel like they are there with you. If you want to write a narrative, or if you want to write a news story that engages the reader, the only details you will be able to choose from are the details you collect while reporting. Collect as much information as you can, way more than you think you need.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>Collecting the maximum amount of material can happen differently depending on the story and the type of information available. It can mean spending extra time with your sources, having a follow-up conversation (or two, or three) or finding ways to observe them in action. It can mean asking people to walk you through past experiences, recreating scenes or even visiting places that are important to the story. In some cases, there might be videos or recordings of events. Gather it all.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-heading   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Pay attention to (your) emotions.<\/h3>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>The traditional view is of the reporter as an impartial observer. Although we must be vigilant about how our personal beliefs might affect our perceptions, there also is also a place for being attuned to our emotions and tapping them for better reporting.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/profiles\/thomas-lake-profile\">Thomas Lake<\/a>, a senior writer at CNN, told me about a story he wrote about a man who had been the<a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/interactive\/2020\/04\/us\/longest-wrongful-prison-sentence\/\">&nbsp;longest wrongfully-imprisoned person<\/a>&nbsp;in the country. Richard Phillips had endured his 46-year imprisonment by writing poetry and painting. Lake told me about a moment where he stood in Phillips\u2019 apartment and was struck by one of his paintings: \u201cIf I\u2019m out there, doing an interview or watching something happen, and I really feel something, I get that tingly feeling or suddenly feel a little choked up. That\u2019s a pretty good indicator that if I do it right, the reader might feel something similar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-heading   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. What is the story really about?<\/h3>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>This is a question journalists ask every day, whether because they need to get to the core of an issue or figure out what is most newsworthy to put in the lede. Many of the narrative journalists I talked to, however, went deeper. For them, the question was used to identify universal experiences that readers will relate to, even if they haven\u2019t experienced the exact situation recounted in a story.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lanedegregory.org\/\">Lane DeGregory<\/a>, longtime enterprise reporter for the Tampa Bay Times and winner of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pulitzer.org\/winners\/lane-degregory\">2008 Pulitzer Prize in feature writing<\/a>, says she is always looking for universal themes in her stories: \u201cEven if (readers) can\u2019t relate to the person I\u2019m writing about, they can relate to revenge or love, or hope or heartbreak.\u201d These themes give stories staying power beyond the immediate news cycle and also give journalists a way to focus their writing.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-heading   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. Collapse the distance between reader and source.<\/h3>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>Narratives are often characterized by rich details. Readers are immersed in the world they are reading about, including the thoughts and feelings of the people in the story. Obtaining these details for journalistic narratives requires long interviews and detailed questions, but the journalists I spoke with felt the time and effort is worthwhile.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>\u201cYou bring the reader inside their thought process, so that the distance between the reader and the subject collapses and for a brief instance, the reader is sort of there with the subject as they\u2019re doing, what they\u2019re doing, thinking about their thinking,\u201d said&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.editorandpublisher.com\/stories\/jenna-russell-joins-the-new-york-times-as-new-england-bureau-chief,240554\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jenna Russell<\/a>, a New York Times journalist who also wrote for the Boston Globe for many years. \u201cTo me, that\u2019s where you create empathy, when that distance collapses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-heading   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. Give of yourself, too.<\/h3>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>All of the journalists I spoke with, each in their own way, emphasized the importance of spending time \u2014 a lot of time \u2014 with sources. Some spoke about the privilege it is to be allowed into people\u2019s lives, often becoming intimately familiar with difficult circumstances and situations.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/robertsanchezwrites.com\/home\">Robert Sanchez<\/a>, a staff writer for the Denver-based 5280 Magazine, thinks it\u2019s unfair to conduct an interview where he asks all the questions and his sources carry all of the vulnerability of sharing their lives. Instead, he approaches sources with his notebook in his back pocket, only taking it out once he has made a personal connection. He also shares parts of his life, as appropriate, and prefers to approach reporting as conversations with&nbsp;<em>characters&nbsp;<\/em>as opposed to interviews with&nbsp;<em>sources<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>\u201cWhen I sit down and have a conversation with a&nbsp;<em>character<\/em>, I\u2019m trying to understand the full humanity of that human being, right?\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cI\u2019m trying to learn the absolute most about that human being, and the only way I\u2019m going to be able to do that is to also be able to talk about myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-heading   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Putting the lessons to work<\/h2>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>The other day, I was covering an event and I hung around to interview the guest performer. The event organizer pulled me aside and thanked me for staying so long \u2014 not just dropping in and out. Covering a small community for a small newspaper, I am lucky to be thanked often for my work. But when I am, this is my favorite thing to be thanked for. Journalists have hectic schedules, but the thing we have in short supply is also the best thing we have to give: time.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>I\u2019m reminded of the hours I spent as a music major in a windowless practice room, working through the minuscule details at a pace that made any improvement in my playing indetectable in the moment. Musicians spend hours doing the same thing over and over until they emerge onto the stage with a polished product.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>If any journalist aspires to achieve a sort of art with their work \u2014 and I certainly do \u2014 we need to work with equal persistence and attention to detail. In many ways, our craft is spending time with people. I hope and pray that I continue to learn to do that well.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>* * *<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p><strong><em>Grace Kenyon<\/em><\/strong><em>&nbsp;covers Lake Placid for the Adirondack Daily Enterprise in upstate New York. She interviewed eight narrative journalists as part of her research at the Missouri School of Journalism, where she received her master\u2019s degree.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A journalist starting her career turned to the older generation of &#8220;new journalists&#8221; to learn the skills and ethics of narrative<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"topics":[],"authors":[402],"issue":[],"class_list":["post-11467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essays-on-craft","authors-grace-kenyon"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>5 shared lessons from some masters of 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