Monday, July 25, 2005
First Draft by Tim Porter: Public Journalism, Privately Funded
First Draft by Tim Porter: Public Journalism, Privately Funded: "Why? 'There's a freedom for me,' Marshall told Weintraub, 'a value to the independence. .... I'll be giving readers a sense of what's happening that they don't get in conventional journalism.'
Here's a sample of Marshall's reporting, an excerpt taken from his account of a John Edwards speech:
'When I watch these guys one of the things I also watch for, either semi-consciously or quite deliberately, is, how will the Republicans go after this guy --- either on substance or on tone and demeanor and life story? With some of the contenders it is painfully obvious. But watching Edwards I had a pretty clear sense that he'd scare the president's political advisors --- a lot. …
'And yet, an hour or so later, after his presentation and after and Q& A, I had a bit of a hard time remembering quite what I was so dazzled by. It put me in the mind of one of those old clich�s about light Asian food: filling at the time, but a few hours later you're hungry again.
'These are just quick impressions from observing one event. I wanted to write a post which conveyed --- in as unmediated a fashion as possible --- my immediate impressions of watching Edwards work a room for the first time. The above isn't intended as a blanket judgment about a whole campaign and a whole candidate. But in this one case I did have the experience of being truly wowed and then, later, feeling that the whole thing was somehow a bit thin.'(Emphasis added)
'In an unmediated a fashion as possible.' That phrase is key. Marshall is bypassing the editorial labyrinth of 'conventional journalism,' eliminating layers of editors, constrictions of newshole and limitations of deadline, to report directly to a public who values his work enough to pay for it in advance."
Here's a sample of Marshall's reporting, an excerpt taken from his account of a John Edwards speech:
'When I watch these guys one of the things I also watch for, either semi-consciously or quite deliberately, is, how will the Republicans go after this guy --- either on substance or on tone and demeanor and life story? With some of the contenders it is painfully obvious. But watching Edwards I had a pretty clear sense that he'd scare the president's political advisors --- a lot. …
'And yet, an hour or so later, after his presentation and after and Q& A, I had a bit of a hard time remembering quite what I was so dazzled by. It put me in the mind of one of those old clich�s about light Asian food: filling at the time, but a few hours later you're hungry again.
'These are just quick impressions from observing one event. I wanted to write a post which conveyed --- in as unmediated a fashion as possible --- my immediate impressions of watching Edwards work a room for the first time. The above isn't intended as a blanket judgment about a whole campaign and a whole candidate. But in this one case I did have the experience of being truly wowed and then, later, feeling that the whole thing was somehow a bit thin.'(Emphasis added)
'In an unmediated a fashion as possible.' That phrase is key. Marshall is bypassing the editorial labyrinth of 'conventional journalism,' eliminating layers of editors, constrictions of newshole and limitations of deadline, to report directly to a public who values his work enough to pay for it in advance."
