Literary Journalism Techniques Create Compelling Blackhawk Down Web Site

Newspaper Research Journal, Fall 2004 by Royal, Cindy, Tankard, James W Jr

At a time of declining newspaper circulation and readership,1 many newspapers are turning to online journalism as a means of reaching readers.2 One example of the World Wide Web being used for a particularly compelling kind of journalistic storytelling is the Philadelphia Inquirer's Blackhawk Down site.3

This article examines The Blackhawk Down site from the point of view of literary journalism and suggests directions that this form of journalism may take as it moves into a new communication medium-the World Wide Web. The investigation also reveals ways in which techniques of literary journalism can help creators of Web pages make writing on the Web more dramatic, powerful and, consequently, attractive to readers.

Reporter Mark Bowden began writing Blackhawk Down as a series for the Philadelphia Inquirer in late 1997. The series also appeared on the newspaper's Web site. Blackhawk Down is the story of a single episode in the United States' participation in the military action in Somalia in October 1993, seen through the eyes of the young soldiers involved.

Even seven years after its creation, the site sets a standard for innovative use of the Web by online journalists. The project introduced a powerful combination of Web features and j ournalistic techniques that most online newspapers have still not tried to emulate. The site remains active, showing the longtime value of this kind of project to a newspaper.

Defining Literary Journalism

In contrast to standard reportage (characterized by objectivity, direct language and the inverted pyramid form), literary journalism seeks to communicate facts through narrative storytelling and literary techniques. The concept has been described with a variety of terms, including new journalism, narrative storytelling, creative nonfiction, intimate journalism and literary nonfiction.

The phrase new journalism described a kind of writing popular in the 1960s that was formally recognized in a book of that title by Tom Wolfe.4 Wolfe's description of this style is that "it just might be possible to write journalism that would... read like a novel. "5 Wolfe described defining four basic techniques of thenewjournalism: scene by scene construction, use of extended dialogue, third person point of view and the use of details symbolic of status.6

James E. Murphy identified three characteristics of literary journalism: the usage of dramatic literary techniques, subjectivity and immersion.7

Norman Sims provided the following list of defining characteristics: immersion reporting, accuracy, voice, structure, responsibility and symbolic representation.8 Kramer notes that literary journalists write in an "intimate voice" that is informal, frank, human and ironic.9 Kramer adds that structure counts, with literary journalism often mixing primary narrative with tales and digressions to amplify and reframe events.10 Another technique of the literary journalist is the cliffhanger ending-a device clearly borrowed from fiction.11

An example of a literary journalism writer using digression is John McPhee's discussion in The Deltoid Pumpkin seed of the history of dirigibles.12

One of the driving forces behind the literary journalism movement is growing research evidence indicating that the reading public prefers news writing with a narrative structure. A 1993 study by the American Society of Newspaper Editors compared a storytelling structure with three others, including inverted pyramid, and found that the narrative versions "were better read, and they communicated information better."13 Another study based on interviews with workingjournalists suggested that the narrative style is appearing more frequently in the news section than in the past.14

The Blackhawk Down Site

Blackhawk Down is unusual in being a very long piece of writing on the World Wide Web. The site was very popular when it was introduced, receiving up to 42,000 page views per day, often pushing the limits of the servers that were running it. It continues to be one of the most viewed sections on Philly.com, receiving more than 38,000 hits per month.15 The site takes advantage of many features of the Web to enhance the power of the writing: video clips, audio clips, photos, maps, graphics, a glossary, a Who's Who of people appearing in the series, an index and an "Ask the Author" forum. Most of these features can be accessed from a menu on the left side of the Web page. The site also features numerous hyperlinks embedded in the text (see Figure 1).

Research Questions

RQ1:

Does the text of the Web site version of Blackhawk Down make use of the techniques of literary journalism?

RQ2:

How do Web elements-the special features of the Web (including audio clips video clips, graphics, maps, hyperlinks and an "Ask the Author" reader forum)-help facilitate the goals of literary journalism?

Method

This project used the case study method to answer the research questions. Analysis of the site was conducted from 2000 to 2004. The site did not change during that time period. Lists of defining characteristics of literary journalism were used as criteria for finding pertinent sections of the site and then analyzing them. Qualities of literary journalism that were searched for and examined were dramatic story form; Wolfe's scene-byscene construction, dialogue in full and third person point of view; Sims' accuracy, voice, structure and responsibility; Kramer's use of digressions to amplify and reframe events; and cliffhanger endings.