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.