March 15, 2002
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Nieman Narrative Journalism Conference
On a late fall weekend in 2001, the Nieman Program on Narrative Journalism convened its first conference. More than 800 journalists traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts to take part in three days of interactive seminars, lectures and readings with many of the nation’s leading practitioners. By the end of the conference, there had been 26 seminars, four plenary sessions, and three group readings, and it is from words spoken at these sessions that Nieman Reports compiled the report that follows. — Melissa Ludtke
Interview time is not social time, and a mistake that younger narrative reporters frequently make is to be too nice and too obliging and to act too much like the guest and not enough like the reporter.
I tell my sources up front, don’t tell me what you don’t want me to know. Or tell me now if there is an area that you want to wall off, and I’ll see if I can continue working with you.
If they start feeling more comfortable, it’s a problem. You’re liable to be putting yourself at risk of having contaminated access if you go too far. It is possible to be a poised professional friend and acknowledge that. If you go over a certain line, you may be in ethical trouble. I don’t say anything goes. I say that there is a matter of honor and decency, and your readers will be your judges.
Nieman Narrative Journalism Conference
On a late fall weekend in 2001, the Nieman Program on Narrative Journalism convened its first conference. More than 800 journalists traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts to take part in three days of interactive seminars, lectures and readings with many of the nation’s leading practitioners. By the end of the conference, there had been 26 seminars, four plenary sessions, and three group readings, and it is from words spoken at these sessions that Nieman Reports compiled the report that follows. — Melissa Ludtke
