Serving in Florida - journo in the first person.
Ehrenreich’s article is another great example of the first person style of journalism. I argued here that I believed that the questioning nature of this style of writing put it into a framework that defined it as journalism, The same principals are evident here but at an even stronger level.
In this article the author raises awareness of and in an indirect nature questions the value of paying wait staff the hourly wage they get. Are these people not an integral part of our society and so should they not get a more significant wage.
I would be willing to go further than just saying that I believe this is journalism, My personal belief about this first person style of journalism is that it is extremely powerful. As a young person and a budding journalist my self I take this first person writing perhaps more seriously than I do the more traditional style of journalism. The heartfelt and personal nature of first person writing and the fact that they are immediately involved or effected by the story leads me to connect to not just the author but the issue. I am encouraged to reflect on what the author is saying and perhaps relate it to my own life. I understand the concerns of bias or influence that are raised around this style but I believe that it should not always be up to the author to provide both sides of the story.
As a 22 year old, desperate to get into the media degree at RMIT (having written application for the course every years since finishing school at 18) I was interviewed by two of my soon to be lecturers. As a part of the interview I was asked to tell them who some of my favourite journalists were, I mentioned one name, Michael Moore. I was met with a look of shock from the two people in front of me, then I justified myself. As a member of Michael Moores audience I understand completely that he as a writer and film maker portrays one very biased opinion of his stories. I understand that it is my role as an audience member to find the other side of the story if I want to ( and I did) As long as I approach this style of journalism knowing that there is more work to do than just read or view this then I can in fact get more from it than I can from someone who tries to fit both sides of the story into the same amount of space.
