The New Journalism
The New Journalism is a 1973 anthology of journalism edited by Tom Wolfe and E. W. Johnson. The book is both a manifesto for a new type of journalism by Wolfe, and a collection of examples of New Journalism by American writers, covering a variety of subjects from the frivolous to the deadly serious. The pieces are notable because they do not conform to the standard dispassionate and even-handed model of journalism. Rather they incorporate literary devices usually only found in fictional works.
Manifesto
The first section of the book consists of four previously published texts by Wolfe: The Feature Game and Like a Novel ; Seizing the Power and Appendix.The text is a diatribe against the American novel which Wolfe sees as having hit a dead end by moving away from realism, and his opinion that journalism is much more relevant. In effect, his manifesto is for mixing journalism with literary techniques to document in a more effective way than the novel. These techniques were most likely inspired by writers of social realism, such as Émile Zola and Charles Dickens. His manifesto for New Journalism has four main points.
- Scene by scene construction. Rather than rely on second-hand accounts and background information, Wolfe considers it necessary for the journalist to witness events first hand, and to recreate them for the reader.
- Dialogue. By recording dialogue as fully as possible, the journalist is not only reporting words, but defining and establishing character, as well as involving the reader.
- The third person. Instead of simply reporting the facts, the journalist has to give the reader a real feeling of the events and people involved. One technique for achieving this is to treat the protagonists like characters in a novel. What is their motivation? What are they thinking?
- Status details. Just as important as the characters and the events, are the surroundings, specifically what people surround themselves with. Wolfe describes these items as the tools for a "social autopsy", so we can see people as they see themselves.
Anthology
Part two, which makes up the major part of The New Journalism, consists of twenty-four pieces, collected by Wolfe and Johnson. Every text features a short introduction, written by Wolfe.Texts
| Title | Author | First published | Magazine/newspaper first published in | Book published in |
| 25 September 1965 | The New Yorker | In Cold Blood | ||
| Beth Ann and Macrobioticism | New [York Herald Tribune] | |||
| Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream | 7 May 1966 | The Saturday Evening Post | Slouching Towards Bethlehem | |
| ' | ' | |||
| Charlie Simpson's Apocalypse | 6 July 1972 | Rolling Stone | Charlie Simpson's Apocalypse | |
| La Dolce Viva | 29 April 1968 | New York | ||
| Gear | The Village Voice | |||
| Khesanh | Esquire | |||
| Under the title, "On the Steps of the Pentagon" | Harper's Magazine | |||
| 3 December 1965 | Life | |||
| Paper Lion | ||||
| Ava: Life in the Afternoon | Esquire | Do You Sleep in the Nude? | ||
| Timing and a Diversion: The Cocoa Game | 1967 | New York [World Journal Tribune] | ||
| Esquire | M | |||
| Twirling at Ole Miss | Esquire | Red-Dirt Marijuana and Other Tastes | ||
| Esquire | Fame and Obscurity | |||
| Hell's Angels: [The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs|Hell's Angels] | ||||
| Scanlan's Monthly | The Great Shark Hunt | |||
| 5 June 1966 | The Sunday Times | |||
| Martin Luther King Is Still on the Case | Esquire | |||
| Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers | 8 June 1970 | New York | Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers |
Primary sources
Contemporary reviews
The New Journalism'''Texts in the anthology'''
Secondary sources
Category:Types of journalism
Category:Books by Tom Wolfe
Category:1975 non-fiction books
Category:American anthologies
Category:Harper & Row books