What is it about?
Applying the philosophy of Martin Buber, this article argues in support of personal journalism because it is a form of journalism that provides for a productive and empowering dialogue with the public as opposed to impersonal journalism's monologic voice as that of the observer-knower expert that views sources as objects to be observed, mapped and categorized. It builds on Matheson's embrace of Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics to explain and analyze James Agee's personal journalistic approach to Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. This analysis shows that Agee defends the use of personal reporting with epistemological and ethical arguments and contributes the notion of reflexivity as a necessary condition for personal journalism.
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Why is it important?
It strengthens the philosophical support for personal journalism.
Perspectives
I think journalism ought to be personal when it reports on people and their lives from a literary journalism perspective.
Dr James Aucoin
University of South Alabama
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The imperative of personal journalism: James Agee and Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, Journalism, December 2014, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/1464884914558917.
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