Why anthropologists should do journalism
Why anthropologists should do journalism
(but not necessarily become journalists)
By Karen Lerbech Pedersen
Ethnographic journalism. I was introduced to the term during my first week as an undergraduate student in Journalism Studies almost six years ago. As opposed to more traditional journalism, ethnographic journalism was all about getting under the skin of a given topic, we were told. Often narrative in form, its storytelling approach allowed for a more nuanced coverage. I was intrigued.
In the past few years, ethnographic journalism has been labelled a hybrid genre, having become a niche in Danish journalism. Today, when journalists conduct research spanning over a couple of weeks or months, they describe their work as ‘ethnographic journalism’. In fact, I was one of those journalists, proudly claiming that I took on “anthropological approaches in my journalistic work” in my university application.
Cut to the end of Lent term 2019. Now, having studied the intricacies and methodology of ethnography, I must admit that nothing in my work as a journalist could be classified as ‘ethnographic’ in nature. However, after my eye-opening time at the LSE, I believe anthropology – or more precisely anthropologists – have a great deal to offer to journalism.
I believe journalism and anthropology share some very fundamental approaches to the world; there is a curiosity and a drive to understand the what, how and why. Yet, where journalism by principle is rather positivistic, anthropology is hermeneutic. News criteria such as Proximity, Prominence, Timeliness, Oddity and Conflict drive journalists in their work, and though challenged in recent times, the principle of ‘objectivity’ seems to be an enduring one. Many anthropologists, on the other hand, seek questions and doubt, and allow interpretation. In more contemporary ethnography the anthropologist is not afraid of placing her- or himself within the context, acknowledging that there is no objective truth to be told.
It is true that journalism is now facing both challenges and new opportunities. Traditional medias are fighting to survive, and paradoxically enough, so are their younger, digital counterparts. As the media industry has become one, big globalised industry, potential readers, viewers and listeners can be found all over the world. What happens in Germany could be of interest to someone in Singapore. In a strange way, people across the globe end up consuming the same content, and reading the same stories.
In such precarious times, it seems as if dichotomies have faced some kind of a revival (perhaps they never really left), and it’s more or less impossible to read the news without being met with oppositions; pro or against Brexit, feminism or misogyny, believing or not believing in climate change, pro-vaccine or anti-vaxxer. The list goes on. The sparks of conflict are ever-present, with everyone yelling at each other from their respective sides of the cliff.
This brings me to why I believe anthropologists should do journalism, but not necessarily become journalists. Journalism today confines the author to journalistic norms and practices. An anthropological journalism has the means to go against the stream, and although anthropology is subject to the same critiques as any other discipline, I believe there is much to be gained from combining the two fields. This is why I will leave the big critiques of anthropology aside for now. Anthropologists engage with issues in-depth, inferring larger structures at play from observing day-to-day lives. They question what they observe, analysing the gap between what people say they do and what they actually do. Anthropologists question power relations. They see the nuances of human life. They question the dichotomies. Imagine a journalism which did just that.
To circle back to the idea of ‘ethnographic journalism’, which has followed me since my undergraduate studies-- while I still don’t know about ethnographic journalism, I firmly believe in anthropological journalism. I believe it should be encouraged and pursued because it has the ability to challenge the status quo, especially when it comes to journalism – and perhaps even within anthropology as well.
The question now is where to find the columns.