Books as Journalism

Journalistic books are described in many ways. Sometimes they are classified as “new journalism” or “new new journalism”; at other times such books are seen as “literary” or “literary narrative” journalism, sometimes as “literary nonfiction,” or “nonfiction reportage,” “journalit,” or “nonfiction novel.” There are varying arguments about what makes a nonfiction book a journalistic work rather than a literary one. One way such books differ from other journalism is in the way the traditional journalistic approaches to news gathering are expanded. Journalists' research can last for years, allowing writers to immerse themselves into the characters' lives and environment, sometimes undercover. Journalists who are unable within the limits of their publication restraints to expand news stories will often return to earlier work and expand that into book-length treatments.

The debate over required elements of the form and its very name is closely related to arguments over who can write it. Some argue that only journalists can write such books because of the methods of research required and the narrative approach to the stories. Others feel that literary or creative writers can also produce works that address their subject in a journalistic manner. One example is Rachel Carson's 1962 path-breaking ecology book, Silent Spring. Although a scientist by training, her work is recognized as the catalyst that banned DDT pesticide use in America.

Regardless of authorship, the ultimate goal is to produce a news story that not only tells what has happened or is happening but strives to make readers feel like they are a part of the story. Beyond telling a human-experience story, journalistic books are often written to inspire change. This approach is closely related to the “muckraking” of a century ago. Such writing uses such literary techniques as an emphasis on characterization, symbols, narrative, and plot motifs, which often allow subjects of a news event to tell their own story. These books can be written as nonfiction or they can include entertaining fictional aspects.

Regardless of the term used, book-length journalism remains underrepresented in scholarly studies and the works themselves are rarely categorized as a separate genre in libraries or bookstores. Rather than being recognized as a separate genre, these books are categorized by their subject matter, making it more difficult to build a sense of commonality, let alone scholarly analysis.