As an occasional advocate and practitioner of narrative journalism, I find Russell Frank’s argument unobjectionable. We should discuss the ethics of the journalism we practice, every day. I’d go a step further and say that each news organization should articulate a set of standards and practices, revisit them often, adhere to them, and deal with their violation.
I would add only this to Frank’s essay: that the discussion of the ethics of nonfiction narrative is not a black hole. To test this thesis, I gave myself one hour to find what I could on the topic, from the files in my office to books in the Poynter library. Here’s what I discovered, more or less in chronological order.
1. Commentary going back to the 1930s from city editors such as Stanley Walker, criticizing the “piping” of stories and other literary excesses.
2. Experiments in literary journalism in the 1940s by the likes of John Hershey, who may have been guilty of both fabrication and plagiarism in some of his work, a fact which may have inspired his penning, three decades later, the important essay “The Legend on the License” in the Yale Review.
3. A great body of critical debate in the 1960s and 70s concerning the experiments of the so-called “New Journalism.” See especially Ron Weber’s book The Reporter as Artist: A Look at the New Journalism Controversy. Dwight Macdonald’s scathing review is titled: “Parajournalism, or Tom Wolfe and His Magic Writing Machine.”
4. In 1981 the fabrication of the Washington Post story, “Jimmy’s World,” gives birth to contemporary media ethics, which may have had the collateral effect of creating teaching positions like the one Professor Franks inhabits. Dozens of articles are written about the scandal.
5. By the 1990s, the term “literary journalism” is established. Books by Norman Sims and Mark Kramer not only describe the form, but begin to articulate standards of responsible practice. Authors such as John McPhee are cited as advocates of drawing clear lines between fiction and nonfiction.
6. Jon Franklin wins two Pulitzers for what amounts to narrative journalism. He authors the book Writing for Story, and establishes a listserv, Writer-L, for curious members of the narrative journalism club. The members wage vigorous debates about the ethics of narrative methods to the point of arguing for and against signing a written statement of standards.
7. Along the way, I’ve lost track of time, Janet Malcolm writes an essay for The New Yorker, arguing that certain forms of journalism require double-crossing the source — that is, sacrificing source for the sake of story. The ethics of intrusion and definitions of truth telling are debated widely in the classroom, newsroom, and courtroom.
8. By 1998, new fabrication and plagiarism scandals ooze out of Boston. A significant body of work revisits journalism standards and practices, a debate now magnified by the Internet. The Poynter Institute and the Project for Excellence in Journalism convene an emergency conference on the topic.
9. Eventually, Rosenstiel and Bill Kovach devote a chapter to the topic in their book The Elements of Journalism, drawing upon the previous work of such authors as Jack Fuller in News Values.
10. Changes in literary theory inspire studies of the work of literary journalists. Library shelves now contain rows of studies on the likes of Liebling, Mencken, Joseph Mitchell, James Cain, E.B. White, and others.
11. At the 1999 Boston University conference on narrative, Mark Kramer invites me and Rosenstiel to conduct an attitude survey and lead a conversation on the line between fact and fiction.
12. Anna Quindlen writes that the detailed reflections of popular memoirists are too good to be true. Michael Steinberg initiates a series of articles on that topic in his new journal Fourth Genre.
13. The Nieman Reports devotes a special issue to the debates about narrative in journalism.
14. Some Pulitzer and ASNE judges raise questions about the responsibility to attribute information within narrative reconstructions.
15. Finally, and immodestly, I add my own essay “The Line Between Fact and Fiction” from a recent edition of Creative Nonfiction. Editor Lee Gutkind, by way of introduction, writes, “The issue Roy Peter Clark deals with in our lead essay – the line between fact and fiction – has been given increasing attention. Clark’s comments set a standard that we wish writers would follow when they submit to our journal or to any other legitimate and serious publication.”
I hope this quick list lift’s Professor Frank’s spirits. As a folklorist, he is well aware that modern stories have ancient antecedents. So too the debate on the ethics of narrative.
