Precursors and alternate uses of the term New Journalism

1 precursors , alternate uses of term

1.1 first usage
1.2 development, 1960s
1.3 1970s
1.4 1980s

precursors , alternate uses of term

various people , tendencies throughout history of american journalism have been labeled new journalism . robert e. park, instance, in natural history of newspaper, referred advent of penny press in 1830s new journalism . likewise, appearance of yellow press—papers such joseph pulitzer s new york world in 1880s—led journalists , historians proclaim new journalism had been created. ault , emery, instance, said industrialization , urbanization changed face of america during latter half of nineteenth century, , newspapers entered era known of new journalism. john hohenberg, in professional journalist (1960), called interpretive reporting developed after world war ii new journalism not seeks explain inform; dares teach, measure, evaluate.

during 1960s , 1970s, term enjoyed widespread popularity, meanings bearing manifestly little or no connection 1 another. although james e. murphy noted ...most uses of term seem refer more specific vague new directions in journalism , curtis d. macdougal devoted preface of sixth edition of interpretative reporting new journalism , cataloged many of contemporary definitions: activist, advocacy, participatory, tell-it-as-you-see-it, sensitivity, investigative, saturation, humanistic, reformist , few more.

the magic writing machine—student probes of new journalism, collection edited , introduced everette e. dennis, came 6 categories, labelled new nonfiction (reportage), alternative journalism ( modern muckraking ), advocacy journalism, underground journalism , precision journalism. michael johnson s new journalism addresses 3 phenomena: underground press, artists of nonfiction, , changes in established media.

first usage

a polemic map w. t. stead, social reformer , journalist of new journalism magazine of 1880s , 1890s.

in 1887, matthew arnold credited coining term new journalism , term went on define entire genre of newspaper history, particularly lord northcliffe s turn-of-the-century press empire. however, @ time, target of arnold s irritation not northcliffe, sensational journalism of pall mall gazette editor, william thomas stead. disapproved of muck-raking stead, , declared that, under stead, p.m.g., whatever may merits, fast ceasing literature. w.t. stead called brand of journalism government journalism

early development, 1960s

february 14, 1972 article in new york tom wolfe, announcing birth of new journalism



nan a. talese , gay talese in 2009. gay talese 1 of pioneers of new journalism.

how , when term new journalism began refer genre not clear. tom wolfe, practitioner , principal advocate of form, wrote in @ least 2 articles in 1972 had no idea of began. trying shed light on matter, literary critic seymour krim offered explanation in 1973.

m [pete] hamill first used expression. in april of 1965 called me @ nugget magazine, editorial director, , told me wanted write article new new journalism. exciting things being done in old reporting genre talese, wolfe , jimmy breslin. never wrote piece, far know, began using expression in conversation , writing. picked , stuck.

but wherever , whenever term arose, there evidence of literary experimentation in 1960s, when norman mailer broke away fiction write superman comes supermarket. report of john f. kennedy s nomination year, piece established precedent mailer later build on in 1968 convention coverage (miami , siege of chicago) , in other nonfiction well.

wolfe wrote first acquaintance new style of reporting came in 1962 esquire article joe louis gay talese. joe louis @ fifty wasn t magazine article @ all. short story. began scene, intimate confrontation between louis , third wife... wolfe said talese first apply fiction techniques reporting. esquire claimed credit seedbed these new techniques. esquire editor harold hayes later wrote in sixties, events seemed move swiftly allow osmotic process of art keep abreast, , when found novelist sought seduce him sweet mysteries of current events. others, notably new york, followed esquire s lead, , style infected other magazines , books.

1970s

much of criticism favorable new journalism came writers themselves. talese , wolfe, in panel discussion cited earlier, asserted that, although wrote may fiction, indeed reporting: fact reporting, leg work, talese called it.

wolfe, in esquire december, 1972, hailed replacement of novel new journalism literature s main event , detailed points of similarity , contrast between new journalism , novel. 4 techniques of realism , other new journalists employed, wrote, had been sole province of novelists , other literati. scene-by-scene construction, full record of dialogue, third-person point of view , manifold incidental details round out character (i.e., descriptive incidentals). result:

... form not merely novel. consumes devices happen have originated novel , mixes them every other device known prose. , while, quite beyond matters of technique, enjoys advantage obvious, built-in, 1 forgets power has : simple fact reader knows happened. disclaimers have been erased. screen gone. writer 1 step closer absolute involvement of reader henry james , james joyce dreamed of never achieved.

the essential difference between new nonfiction , conventional reporting is, said, basic unit of reporting no longer datum or piece of information scene. scene underlies sophisticated strategies of prose.

truman capote, photographed roger higgins in 1959.

the first of new breed of nonfiction writers receive wide notoriety truman capote, 1965 best-seller, in cold blood, detailed narrative of murder of kansas farm family. capote culled material 6,000 pages of notes. book brought author instant celebrity. capote announced had created new art form labelled nonfiction novel.

i ve had theory reportage great unexplored art form... ve had theory factual piece of work explore whole new dimensions in writing have double effect fiction not have—the every fact of being true, every word of true, add double contribution of strength , impact

capote continued stress literary artist, not journalist, critics hailed book classic example of new journalism.

wolfe s kandy-kolored tangerine-flake streamline baby, introduction , title story, according james e. murphy, emerged manifest of sorts nonfiction genre, published same year. in introduction, wolfe wrote encountered trouble fashioning esquire article out of material on custom car extravaganza in los angeles, in 1963. finding not justice subject in magazine article format, wrote letter editor, byron dobell, grew 49-page report detailing custom car world, complete scene construction, dialogue , flamboyant description. esquire ran letter, striking out dear byron. , became wolfe s maiden effort new journalist.

in article entitled personal voice , impersonal eye , dan wakefield acclaimed nonfiction of capote , wolfe elevating reporting level of literature, terming work , of norman mailer s nonfiction journalistic breakthrough: reporting charged energy of art . review jack newfield of dick schaap s turned on saw book example of budding tradition in american journalism rejected many of constraints of conventional reporting:

this new genre defines claiming many of techniques once unchallenged terrain of novelist: tension, symbol, cadence, irony, prosody, imagination.

a 1968 review of wolfe s pump house gang , electric kool-aid acid test said wolfe , mailer applying imaginative resources of fiction world around them , termed such creative journalism hystory connote involvement in reported. talese in 1970, in author s note fame , obscurity, collection of pieces 1960s, wrote:

the new journalism, though reading fiction, not fiction. is, or should be, reliable reliable reportage although seeks larger truth possible through mere compilation of verifiable facts, use of direct quotations, , adherence rigid organizational style of older form.

seymour krim s shake world, smartass, appeared in 1970, contained open letter norman mailer defined new journalism free nonfictional prose uses every resource of best fiction. in newspaper literature/literature leadership , called journalism de facto literature of majority, synthesis of journalism , literature book s postscript called journalit. in 1972, in enemy of novel , krim identified own fictional roots , declared needs of time compelled him move beyond fiction more direct communication promised bring of fiction s resources.

david mcham, in article titled authentic new journalists , distinguished nonfiction reportage of capote, wolfe , others other, more generic interpretations of new journalism. in 1971, william l. rivers disparaged former , embraced latter, concluding, in hands, add flavor , humanity journalistic writing push realm of art. charles brown in 1972 reviewed had been written new journalism , new journalism capote, wolfe, mailer , others , labelled genre new art journalism, allowed him test both art , journalism. concluded new literary form useful in hands of literary artists of great talent.

in first of 2 pieces wolfe in new york detailing growth of new nonfiction , techniques, wolfe returned fortuitous circumstances surrounding construction of kandy-kolored , added:

its virtue precisely in showing me possibility of there being new in journalism. interested me not discovery possible write accurate nonfiction techniques associated novels , short stories. that—plus. discovery possible in nonfiction, in journalism, use literary device, traditional dialogisms of essay stream-of-consciousness...

1980s

in eighties, use of new journalism saw decline, several of old trailblazers still used fiction techniques in nonfiction books. however, younger writers in esquire , rolling stone, style had flourished in 2 earlier decades, shifted away new journalism. fiction techniques had not been abandoned these writers, used sparingly , less flamboyantly.

whatever happened new journalism? wondered thomas powers in 1975 issue of commonweal. in 1981, joe nocera published postmortem in washington monthly blaming demise on journalistic liberties taken hunter s. thompson. regardless of culprit, less decade after wolfe s 1973 new journalism anthology, consensus new journalism dead.