"So what really "killed" New Journalism? I would say it was the twin evils of all magazine journalism: service and sensationalism. As Weingarten notes, by the early 1970s, magazines like New York were beginning the long slide down toward "Top 10" service features and puffy lifestyle stories. ... The journalistic form with which writers like Wolfe chronicled postwar consumerism eventually succumbed to it."
That's Robert Boynton describing the earthshaking content shift that rocked the New Journalists. Boynton survived that identity crisis --he's written for everybody from The New Yorker to Rolling Stone.
Recently, Boynton published book called The New New Journalism, asking award-winning journalists for professional advice about working as a journalist in during this new media identity crisis for journalists.
This week, he's our guest in my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality interviews with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web publishing.
Jason Boog:
You worked for many years as a freelance journalist. How did you survive the lean, uncertain early years of your career? Any advice for fledgling journalists looking to strike out on their own? Anything that you would do differently? Continue reading...
Robert Boynton:
There is nothing more demeaning and fruitless than waiting for a check to arrive, so I always made sure to keep an extra few thousand dollars in my bank account.
» "There is nothing more demeaning and fruitless than waiting for a check to arrive" : How To Survive as a Freelance Writer from ThePublishingSpot
"So what really "killed" New Journalism? I would say it was the twin evils of all magazine journalism: service and sensationalism. As Weingarten notes, by the early 1970s, magazines like New York were beginning the long slide down toward... [Read More]
Tracked on: May 24, 2007 7:54 AM | Permalink to Trackback