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Saving Long-Form Journalism, It’s Getting Personal

I know how important it is for journalists to have multiple skills and that in the 24/7 news cycle there is even more pressure to shoot photos, do audio and video and produce lots of stories. Yes, all of that is important, but I also know as someone who was a magazine editor, who put together the Complete Book of Feature Writing that to be a really great long-form nonfiction writer, requires really great reporting, which takes time, and a special eye for detail. It involves getting all one’s sense into the story, including sight, touch, taste, hearing and smell.

For the writer, shooting video and recording audio prevents engaging all the senses. It is too distracting. So why do I bring this up, because in the past I have mentioned that my daughter Emily Witt, seems to have a special talent in writing long-form stories. Up to now, it might have just been her dad talking, but I am very happy and proud to announce that at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner this past Friday, she won an honorable mention for the 2007 Edgar A. Poe Award. Here is what the judges wrote about the two stories she wrote for the Miami New Times, where she works as a long-form journalist:

Witt for meticulous reporting about the lives of terrorism suspects at Guantanamo, and about the insurmountable odds facing those who seek a fair trial from federal immigration judges.


You can read the stories that were entered here. So if you are a newspaper editor in this era of cutbacks, and a 26-year-old who speaks fluent Spanish and Portuguese, walks in the door and her main strength is long-form journalism, what do you do? Hire her and hope to get some excellent short stuff from her? Not hire her because you want multi-media folks? Hire her and do everything you can to nurture her talents?

Okay, the truth is she can do both. Here is proof. However, if her photographs are okay and her writing is very, very good to excellent, if you were the editor, what you want in the end?

Fortunately for her, her first full-time reporting job has been with the The New Times, now Village Voice Media, corporation. As you might know, The New Times has been in the news mostly over the Village Voice firing and editor hiring disputes. However, one message that has not been heard about the New Times, is that it is a venue for long-form journalism and has been for three decades. So Emily has been lucky to be there; now the questions are: How long will the type of journalism she produces be around? Or more importantly, how many editors will continue to honor and nurture this special kind of writing that combines both appreciating language and meticulous reporting?

Oh, by the way, Emily, congratulations and I am very proud of you.




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