The end of narratives

The story is dead.

The basic unit of currency that nearly all of journalism has
traded in since it began is finished.

And it's dead because of big things we've all seen
happening, but that we've been reluctant to put together to come to
the inevitable conclusion - that the story is dead.

It's obvious why we're reluctant to come to this conclusion:
the story is at the centre of everything that we do.
What’s the first question we always ask? 'Is it a good story?'
The language we use about our journalism comes back to the
story.

'Get the story.' 'Tell the story.' 'It's a lead story.' The thing we
tell young journalists to focus on above all else: 'Be a good
storyteller.' 'Use the touching detail of the story to tell a bigger truth
about the world.'

The story has become everything that we do. It lies behind
all our rites and rituals. The things we think make journalism.
Scoops, deadlines, headlines; accuracy, impartiality, public interest
– they all lean on the fundamental assumption that we do our
business in stories.

Journalists have extended 'the story' way beyond what
it was once useful for. It's a great way of learning some things
about the world – but it's rubbish for many other forms of public
communication.

In spite of that, we have stretched 'the story' as a format and
sub-genre further than it could ever really go. And we did that to
create the whole idea of journalism and journalists as a trade and a
tribe apart. We did it to define ourselves. Only journalists could
spot stories; only journalists could find the top line that could
compete for the attention of mass audiences.

Download ebooks on http://www.frenchtheory.com/ - See that post with different algorithms in metabole - See the journal French Metablog with today different posts-Enter Jean-Philippe Pastor


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