The New Journalism

Brief history of American Journalism

• Started off with 'Penny Papers' in the USA- deeply partisan- merchants and politicians. This was a move towards the possibility of writing news regularly for the public rather than the elite. Papers began to be targeted at the working class.
• Mid 19th century, objectivity becomes a factor in journalism because of the creation of wire services. The associated press-AP- needed objectivity to be profitable.
• The first new Journalism-'The Yellow Press' (late 19th century). In New York there was competition between 'Hearst' of the 'New York Journal' and 'Pulitzer' of the 'New York World'.
• Sensationalism- Papers began to use huge, emotive headlines with big striking pictures to allure new readers and keep their interest. There were exclusives, dramatic stories, romance and shocking crimes. This was the start of the tabloids e.g similar to 'Sun on Sunday'. Chris Horrie explains this to be like 'Frozen TV'.
• Many called 'Yellow Journalism' the 'New' Journalism without a soul since all stories published were about sin, sex and violence.
• In the 60s/70s journalists were recording daily events in a formulaic way. (The 5 W's- Who, What, Where, When, Why- the news pyramid). The 'New Journalism' was an attempt to reflect/record events mirroring language and style of the events, therefore, letting it bleed into the copy.

Political and Cultural Scene

• 1960s was a turbulent time- great hope of JFK was destroyed in assignation and also in 1963 disastrous war in Vietnam-controversy of the draft- Muhammed Ali refused to be conscripted into the Army (Vietnam War). 
• Demographic Reasons- baby boom after WW2 which created a powerful youth culture. Organised marches/protests etc. The voice of radical change was young people who wished to rebel against conventions of the older generation. 
•  Sexual Revolution- Sexual freedom- the introduction of the pill meant that women had a choice and therefore gained sexual freedom.
• Reichian free love in mid 60s - (Feud says bad stuff going on in your mind and subconscious) He was a follower of Freud but then fell out with him. He said that Freud had it wrong, you should just let it all hang it, people are unhappy because they keep things in.
• The student movement- worldwide protests of 1968. Civil rights, Black power-use of LSD (introduced by CIA) to access altered thinking of counterculture.
• Prohibition of drugs created subcultures- Hippies, communes, collectives etc. and established much of youth culture has other- deviant.
• LSD was seen as a way to escape controlling hierarchy. Believed that all bad things come from young people.
• Music was central to counterculture. Sartre thought jazz was authentic, the music of the 1960s was a full frontal attack on the norms, drug fuelled and anti Establishment (Bob Dylan)- with the aim to be subvert and political.

Influence of Existentialism

• Ideas formed by Existentialism- Heidegger's Authenticity, Sartre's 'Bad Faith'. Key ideas- freedom and choice. For example Fanon's view of a path to freedom via accelerated choice (violence). As we have seen, for Fanon the act of violence is essentially the extreme expression of choice- choice with real, immediate impact.
• Anti-establishment feeling-''There is a policeman inside your head- he must be destroyed''-began to seep into Journalism.
• Journalists questioned whether basing stories on press releases, press conferences and official statements made by the establishment was really objective- more importantly a true reflection of events? Bad faith.
• New forms of Journalism began to emerge, focus on setting, plot, sounds, feelings, direct quotes and images while still being as careful as before with facts. Truman Capote, Tom Wolfe and Norman Mailer are examples of this new breed.
• This alternative journalism was personal and expressed an individual point of view. It was also unconventional- shift in form of narration 'telling to seeing'.
• Marshall McLuhan's 'Hot and cold media' in 'New Journalism' objectivity is junked in favour of subjective experience. Most famous example is Tom Wolfe. A huge fan of Emile Zola- greatest writers of natural realism. Zola crowned himself as the first scientific novelist, a 'naturalist' to use his term, studying the human fauna according to Wolfe. 
• Wolfe enters into Journalism first thing he notices is the status competition. This varies though, reporters in 'scoop comp'. 
• People started to use dialogue, new articles with real, intimate dialogue. Real people speaking in a real way. Dramatic shift to try and replicate real life events exactly how they are, exactly the same in print. Attention to detail. Learn everything/ all details to enable you to write in this way. Need to invest time to get this sort of material.

New Journalism page 46 & 47

These are the 2 most important pages about features.

The Journalists embraced social realism. Learnt the techniques of realism from Balzac, Zola, Dickens etc. 

This power is derived from four devices: 

1. Scene by scene construction - telling the story in scenes and not in a sheer ‘historical narrative’. Journalists needed to be at the event to witness it. 
2. ‘Realistic dialogue involves the reader more completely than any other single device - it also defines character more quickly and effectively than any other single device.”
3. - third-person point of view - “giving the reader the feeling of being inside the characters mind.” need to interview the subject about his thoughts and emotions, along with everything is. 
4. The fourth device is the recording of everyday gestures, habits, manners, customs, styles of furniture, modes of behaviour towards children, superiors, inferiors and other symbolic details that might exist within a scene. Symbolic of people’s status of life.
   Small details gives ways in to explain what people are like.

• Ultimate New Journalism piece is 'Fear and Loathing' (Hunter Thompson).. “Gonzo Journalism” Gonzo Journalism can often be obvious by such features as: fly on the wall, shaky footage, being authentic. Louis Therox - Gonzo Journalism
• “Performance Journalism” (eg SUPERSIZE ME) Michael Moore etc
  You become the story and are central to the story.