What is New Journalism?
What is New Journalism?
New Journalism has been around, in many different manifestations, since the 1830s. That was the first time, but certainly not the last time, that a newspaper editor or publisher coined the phrase. At that long ago time, it had more to do with what was also called “penny journalism,” something that might be considered a distant cousin to “yellow journalism.”
The news back then often stretched the bounds of “honest reporting” and tended to opt for the sensational as a way to sell newspapers. There were many other manifestations of “new journalism” in the years after 1832.
The last time that someone used the phrase, New Journalism, for a particular style or approach to journalism began in the 1960s and continued into the 1970s. The phrase at that time referred to a “style of new writing and journalism which used literary techniques that were unconventional in journalism.”
In fact, Tom Wolfe gave substance to that belief in his book, “The New Journalism” which was published in 1973. In the book, Wolfe included “New Journalism” articles by some of the best-known writers of the day – Truman Capote … Hunter S. Thompson … Norman Mailer … Pete Hamill … Joan Didion … and many, many others.
As the book indicated, the articles by these writers were more literary in nature and in style than they were traditional in the sense that they reported on an event and provided editorial comment, as well. In truth, these “New Journalism” writers often saw their words – and their articles – show up on the pages of important magazines instead of on the Op-Ed pages of newspapers.
It was not uncommon for articles by Norman Mailer, for example, to appear inside the glossy pages of The New Yorker … New York magazine … Esquire … Rolling Stone magazine … The Atlantic Monthly … and other highly-regarded weekly or monthly publications.
Many, but not all, of the writers cited in Tom Wolfe’s book are still actively engaged as professional journalists today. Thy may not write as often and are certainly published less frequently, but their journalistic style of covering news and events that matter to readers has not changed. They are today what they were nearly forty years ago, “New Journalists.”
Of course, while these aging journalists remain the same, the larger field of journalism has changed dramatically. In the 21st Century, as newspapers and magazines suffer the financially devastating effects of shrinking readerships, new journalists are emerging – and a new kind of journalism is emerging, as well – thanks to the “always open” Internet.
Today’s journalism is constant because today’s journalists operate inexpensively and individually from home offices. They are able to use their “blogs” to respond to news as it happens – whether they do so for the purposes of reporting or for editorial comment.
Add 24-hours-a-day Cable television journalism to Internet Journalism and it is easy to see that traditional journalism may be “on its deathbed” as the much newer and more vibrant forms of truly “New Journalism” capture the interests and the loyalties of Americans. Times are definitely changing … fast.
Yellow Journalism … Sensationalism in Print
If you’ve never heard of Yellow Journalism or “Yellow Press,” it may be that you’re too young, the term doesn’t get used too much these days. But, that was not always true. Beginning in the late 19th Century and for much of the 20th Century, Yellow Journalism was a “headline issue,” something that people frequently talked about.
The term itself, Yellow Journalism, refers to news and information that has “little or no legitimacy, that has not been properly researched and that may not even be true.” That’s a rough definition, but the point should not be lost. Yellow Journalism directly involves the use of sensationalism, gross exaggeration and scandal-mongering as a way to draw attention to the front page of a newspaper for the express purpose of selling as many copies of that newspaper as possible.
The term was coined and the business of Yellow Journalism actually took root in the 1890s in New York City. It was at that time that two major publishers of the period (and towering figures in the history of newsprint), Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst were competing against one another to sell the most newspapers and turn the largest profit.
Pulitzer published a newspaper called the New York World while Hearst was the power behind The New York Journal. Both men were avidly seeking to boost circulation … and to set themselves apart from the many other newspapers available to New Yorkers in those days.
They had to make their newspapers look different and read differently, too, in order to stand out and drive circulation. Pulitzer got the jump on his competitor by using full color on his front page … screaming, sensational headlines … rumors … innuendo … sympathy for the “underdog” in any given story – all used to get attention and sales. And, it worked.
Circulation for Pulitzer’s newspaper skyrocketed and it was not too long before Hearst began using the same tactics … Yellow Journalism had been born. The period after the birth of these two newspapers was one in which many other newspapers “followed the same formula.” By the 1950s, New Yorkers had their choice of several “tabloid” newspapers that they could purchase and read – The New York Post, The Daily News and the now-defunct Daily Mirror, among many others.
These newspapers differed in style and content from traditional newspapers like The New York Times. They used photography, spectacular front page headlines and sensational stories about murder, scandals and the like to create attention and to push up their circulation numbers. And it worked.
Today, newspapers like The Daily News and The New York Post are profitable and respected. And, while they cover important news stories like those found on the pages of The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal, they also continue to remain faithful to their roots and cover stories that reek of sensationalism.
It appears to be a winning formula which is why it’s fair to say that these two newspapers, among many other similar newspapers, will not be changing their operational procedures anytime soon.