Read Kirkhorn's essay and Sacco's comic strip, as well as the article linked below. Explain how Sacco exemplifies Kirkhorn's concept of a "virtuous journalist" -- or why he doesn't.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/04/books/joe-saccos-the-great-war-july-1-1916.html?emc=eta1&_r=0
Also, bring to class your own chosen example of a virtuous journalists and be prepared to discuss it. If you wish, you can include a link to his or her work with your blog response, which is due Tues., Dec. 3, at 4 p.m.
Here's my example:
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/07/08/opinion/sunday/the-strip.html?_r=0#1
16 comments:
Joe Sacco exemplifies many attributes of Kirkhorn’s “virtuous journalist.” His attention to detail and accuracy is noticeable in “Christmas with Karadzic” as well as “The Great War.” In “Christmas,” Sacco beautifully details the town as they’re driving around. When Kasey interviews Karadzic, Sacco’s observations on the man are detailed. He recalls the brutal “They will be counting the living” quote over and over as he continues examining the man’s appearance, unable to find a shred of visible inhumanity. In “The Great War,” Sacco’s detailed accuracy shows from his heavy research: “Mr. Sacco said he was determined that it be accurate down to the smallest detail, so he spent a week in the photo archives at the Imperial War Museums in London, nearly wearing out the photocopier there.”
Sacco also shows fairness in his work. In “The Great War,” he declares to have not taken sides, commenting on how over-the-top the war was for every person involved: “I do have a point of view, and it’s that I’m horrified by what happened. I didn’t want to emphasize bravery, and I didn’t want to emphasize the blunders of the high command. I didn’t want to demonize General Haig. In the First World War, who wasn’t in over his head?” In “Christmas,” Karadzic is described as looking “healthy” and well-dressed, a relatively kind comment about such a man, who they were clearly expecting to be a visible monster. One could argue that the lack of feeling around Karadzic shows his true heartlessness.
In “The Great War,” Sacco also demonstrates detachment. He “often turns up as a big-nosed, thick-lipped, somewhat geeky caricature of himself, hovering nervously at the edge of a panel.” This is an example of complete physical detachment from the content of his journalism—a fairly obvious example. Even in “Christmas,” his perspective is only that of a journalist. He isn’t unrealistically submersed in the action, but rather gives an accurate description of the events from his point-of-view. There are so many examples of Sacco’s virtuous journalism that I could write an essay…
--
Jaron Lanier - virtuous journalist
Digital Passivity
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/28/opinion/digital-passivity.html
Does the Digital Classroom Enfeeble the Mind?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/magazine/19fob-essay-t.html?pagewanted=all
Pay Me for My Content
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/20/opinion/20lanier.html
Drawbacks to Technology
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuDLgUfzL10
Who Owns The Future? | Keen On...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j71nj07p_7s
…a little less related… (interesting and relevant):
Preserving Creativity in Education
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axUD5ZBs4zo
As I read Kirkhorn's essay, I felt more and more than "virtuous" was standing in for "humane." And reading Sacco's comic, I felt more and more that I was listening to a story, or being told it face to face. The personal tones, and the feelings of emotional confusion that mixed with the reporting made the story exciting and painful to read. I had read about the Sarajevan tragedy before; the stories of Karadzic, and his life as Dr. Dragan, the massacres, the destruction were nothing new to me. But Sacco's story hit harder than anything I've read about it all, because all the prior stories were strict, biographical tellings. Articles on something that was innately wrong, but being treated as though it was an objective topic. Sacco's story, and his loss of feeling when he finally saw the "Butcher of Bosnia" was more intrinsically humane than Karadžić's birth date, position, date of arrest and his defense testimony. So, I believe Sacco is a virtuous journalists -- a humane journalist -- because he brings more to his story than just facts and "what happened." His feelings, his anger, rage, apathy all come out to give us a picture of a man who killed thousands of people.
On that note, I think Marina Akhmedova,a Russian reporter, is a virtuous journalist. Her piece of "krokodil" (desomorphine) addicts in Yekaterinburg is one of the most painful things I have ever read. The danger she put herself in -- from other people, diseases, and the drug itself -- is admirable every sense. But even more admirable is how she shows that these addicts are not a political problem, a metropolitan hassle. These people suffer, and Akhmedova went above and beyond to show that.
http://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/marina-akhmedova/snap-goes-crocodile
The "virtuous journalist" is one that adheres to self-employed standards that promote the very essence of journalism, in that its responsibility is to find out, record, and accurately depict what's going on in the world.
Joe Sacco may simple be drawing in "Christmas with Karadzic" and "The Great War," but he is far and away a virtuous journalist. That he ran through the journalistic motions by exhaustively researching the events on the battle field before ever touching pen to paper shows his personal investment in reporting accurately, thoroughly, and in-depth.
The virtuous journalist, as Kirkhorn states in "The Virtuous Journalist," is one that "aims at precise understanding and sometimes needs to be imprecise and tentative in its approach." Succo's medium, the strip comic, is wholly human and subjective, yet all-encompassing. Its accuracy is found in his work's honesty and the profound presence of the artist in every strip.
That Succo had a strong interest in World War I as a child growing up in Australia is evident in "The Great War." It's almost a childlike fascination, the way he obsessively showed every soldier's outcome and imagined identities for each and every one.
"250 soldiers killed" is just a number to be processed and distributed. Succo's work covering those soldiers is journalism because of the accurate emotions it provokes (as one on the battlefield may feel had they been there) and the humanity it's saturated with.
He showed lives, not numbers, and those values (among many others) contribute to his status as a virtuous journalist.
Virtuous journalist: Lincoln Steffens
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/books/review/lincoln-steffens-muckrakers-progress.html?pagewanted=all
"The Shame of the Cities"
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5733/
Kirkhorn writes "professional responsibility and adequate ethical behavior are possible where there is no regard for the reader. In many professional news operations one finds a disdainful or patronizing attitude towards the audience ... Integrity requires a the resistance of a personal obligation to the reader - and not to the reader's "needs"or interests, but to the reader's responsibilities. The journalist working with integrity assumes that the reader is fully capable of and willing to assume responsibilities. We are offered a view of ourselves as capable citizens and not as "consumers" of the "product" called news. Integrity exalts.
Sacco does not explain his work to his audience, he presents it as he saw it for the reader to interpret. In his work he does not provide the back story, the work takes place in the present without commentary which requires the reader to do some work.
Kirkhorn also writes "the possession of the subject, arrived at through research, conversation, observation, hanging around, sympathetic understanding, is the very opposite of fact scaping." In the video we watched in class, we saw how much research Sacco for his "The Great War" illustration. Though it does not contain any words and does not make any claims, a lot of background research was done for an accurate picture. In "Christmas," Sacco was clearly immersed in this project, he was face to face with everything that was depicted.
Here is the history of the world:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfgy9TP0-HY
I heard it on Radio Lab, which is another "avant garde" form of journalism.
I believe Sacco fits Kirkhorn’s description of a virtuous journalist quite well. In his piece on Karadzic, he displays that although he had come with an expectation to feel a sense of hatred toward Karadzic, he respectfully described his manners, appearance and presence at the church. He humanizes Karadzic because in those moments of reporting, he was not being the monster that Sacco had expected. This also shows great skepticism. He had hated the man before he met him, but still gave a fair report because he didn’t simply let his expectation or figments of media rule his judgment.
Sacco displays independence in working on ‘The Great War.’ Sacco expected that people would not respond well to the idea and that he would have difficulty publishing it, but created it anyway. He was not constrained by the expectations of journalists and this led him to getting his voice out there in a creative fashion. The amount of research he put in to creating the piece in an accurate way shows dedication to truth, integrity and diligence that define him as a journalist. He has his way and that way is highly respectable and fits Kirkhorn’s expectations of a virtuous journalist.
My example is from a website with many contributors, but I felt Lynne Pettinger was one of my favorites. This is a sociological discussion site that focuses on the topic of working in modern day. Often it can be petty or humorous, but I enjoy that people collaborate in discussions to analyze everyday life. These posts contain stories that might not make headline news, but are certainly important to a genuine understanding of the place that we take in society by joining an occupation. Skepticism is important in all areas of life, I feel.
http://www.nowaytomakealiving.net/post/author/lynne/
I would definitely consider Joe Sacco to be a virtuous journalist. Possessing virtue in the field of journalism can be rare and requires a certain respect for the audience that what you are saying is authentic, real, and honest. This is shown by the accuracy with which Sacco drew “The Great War”. He did a lot of research to be able to show what really happened instead of just drawing an extremely graphic rendition of what he thought, or most would think happened in order to sell books or paint a more romantic picture of what actually occurred. Sacco knew that he had a social responsibility as a journalist not to mislead the reader. The comic makes the reader actually feel what the soldiers were feeling as it leads them through the preparation, the night, and finally the battle adding human feelings to a story that could have been told in a 500 word news story citing statistics and numbers.
Virtuous journalist: Jennifer Toth
I believe Kirkhorn's essay on the "Virtuous Journalist" is a mentality that most new journalists believe they will always adhere to. It means to present a story to the fullest extent of it's truth, not just giving facts but including the human experience. This is something I think Hunter S. Thompson did very well with "Gonzo" journalism.
Like Thompson, Joe Sacco presents his experience of obtaining an interview with Karadzic in a way that goes beyond just giving the facts. Yes, we know that the Karadzic is an evil man who has committed horrible crimes against humanity, any newspaper article can tell us that. But Sacco's portrayal of Kasey's interview with Karadzic gives the reader a more intimate sense of what it might actually feel like to be near an evil man. As Sacco discovers, it isn't how one might expect.
Sacco describes Karadzic as a man he has "despised with all my heart for years," but then describes repeating the phrase "They will be counting the living," over and over in his head. He focuses on this point because coming face to face with the Karadzic, he realizes the man doesn't stack up the the list of horrendous actions he has done. This unexpected bit of information gets something across to the reader which would never have been apparent if not for Sacco including his own personal emotions.
Throughout Kirkhorn's piece, “The Virtuous Journalist,” he expands on many characteristics of what he believes to be aspects of a virtuous journalist. Or as what Kirkhorn seemed to imply, good journalists. In his eyes, eyes that undeniably agree with, good and virtuous journalism should “real to us something which seems truthful” and is revealing and understanding of the subject that is being written about. Journalism without this handling of an event or experience is what Kirkhorn calls a “tight and tenious definition of news. They mean no more than the report of the thing which has happened.” While the simple reporting of facts is at times beneficial to the masses, virtuous journalists “contribute to our education and fortify our convictions” through multiple traits that journalists like Thompson and Smith illustrated; the denial of “traditional” methods of journalism and the encompassment of these attributes Kirkhorn talks about.
Sacco should be included among the likes of the virtuous journalists Kirhorn is describing. Many characteristics of virtuousness described in the piece can be seen in both Sacco's cartoons. As Kirkhorn explains, journalism is neither an artistic creation or precise science. This is clearly seen in Sacco's work; although clearly an artistic endeavor on the surface, the mix of reporting that leads to the information being creatively conveyed to demonstrate a more powerful point is evident in both. In “Christmas with Karadzic” a distain toward the Bosnian leader is clearly felt through both the text and illustrations. The journey, however, is not only speckled with certain biases, but encompasses his experience in a very visual way. Details are highlighted and expanded upon that would never be touched upon in “traditional” journalism. These elements are also evidence in Sacco's creation, “The Great War.” Through extensive reporting and research Sacco creates a piece that created a detachment that in turn aided in creating the piece: Sacco spoke of how each individual soldier was a different body with its own story, a concept that helped him create thousands of tiny men and tell a powerful story.
Both“Christmas with Karadzic” and “The Great War” demonstrate three of the main traits Kirkhorn speaks about. Foremost, the imagination Sacco has to create these pieces comes from his ability to obtain actual information and then construct it in a less formal way that brings the reader on the same “level” of the information being shared. By doing so, Sacco is able to humanize the content that he is speaking about, via his own personal interpretation of the people or events and then through graphic interpretations of them. Another element Sacco feeds upon in his work is independence. As Kirkhorn says, the American press as a whole is “still physically free” but is “morally unfree. It is timid. It is timeserving. It is lacking imagination. It is unwilling to tell a story that its public would prefer not to hear.” Virtuous journalists, however, tell these stories. In the case of “The Great War,” Sacco knew there was power in the sense of sight, and while he could write about the thousands that died in a battle, he knew showing the reader this depiction would have a stronger impact – an impact that would result in an emotion many people are not used to feeling. Both these characteristics lead to a third attribute Kirkhorn spoke of, a journalist's sense of who they are as a journalist. By having a certain identity a journalist continuously adheres to, they know themselves where they stand in terms of moral, social and intellectual views of the issues that impact the world that they report on. In return, the journalist can accomplish in their own way what what information and opinions they wish to impart on their readers in the most virtuous way possible.
Kirkhorn defines virtuous journalism as journalists who avoid havoc, while at the same time helping to enhance education while strengthening the declaration of guilt and combating stereotypes.
Sacco exemplifies Kirkhorn’s concept of a virtuous journalist because in Christmas with Karadzic he presents the truth, allows those who don’t have a voice to have one, admits prejudices and always admits when preducies take place, which helps the truth become known.
Sacco easily fits Kirkhorn's ideal of a virtuous journalist. He has the patience and level-headed approach, examining the stories he tells with attention to the human elements and the human drama/tensions, despite whatever feelings or preconceived notions he might've had. He doesn't draw his stories as a stack of facts groping around for the truth but instead relies on the need to tell the story.
His work on "The Great War," a behemoth of a comic endeavor struck me in particular as he never let the faces of the fictionalized soldiers become just another pile of casualties in print. His desire to acknowledge, empathize and imagine the lives of those men marching to die in a complex and full way shows that he isn't jaded.
I think it was Tim O'Brien who said that "a true war story is never moral." And that resonates in Sacco's storytelling. A proper war story, that is a human and honest war story, is bound to be a mess.
Jessica Valenti is one of my favorite journalists to follow. She has a solid understanding of the context of her work and isn't afraid to take crooked or problematic people or groups to task. She doesn't fake a "neutral" persona when she writes about rape apologists, misogynists and corruption.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/176828/how-write-about-rape-rules-journalists
Also, her book "The Purity Myth" tackles the how youth and virginity are and have always been fetishized by certain groups. It's unapologetic in the analysis of inaccurate sex education and calls for groups that promote the patriarchal ideals (in different insidious ways) to stand and be counted.
Kirkhorn’s essay describing the “Virtuous Journalist” is an ideal that I believe is everybody’s initial intent when pursuing a journalistic career. We all begin our journey believing our morals will overcome external demands and the truth is superior to bargaining. Virtuous journalism, according to Kirkhorn, is not only relaying factual events, but also pursuing an understanding of the subject and human experience overall. This is undeniably the most honorable method of reporting. Conventional reporting seems to be everything that Kirkhorn dislikes. “Tight” and dry, Kirkhorn believes in more than just the mere sequence of events which is exactly why I would argue Sacco adheres to Kirkhorn’s guidelines for a virtuous journalist - especially when Kirkhorn writes that a virtuous journalist “aims at precise understanding and sometimes needs to be imprecise in its approach”. Many of the characteristic of virtuousness as defined by Kirkhorn are exhibited in Sacco’s illustrations and cartoons.
In “Christmas with Karadzic”, Sacco portrays Karadzic in the same way he experiences in their interview. He admits his prejudice and distaste for the leader in all honesty, but still goes on to respectfully write how Karadzic presents himself. He allows us to form our own opinions, but still offers his own. This technique was also exhibited in “The Great War” where Sacco’s cartoon story painted a face and different emotion on every single soldier portrayed. While in traditional media wars are depicted in statistics and nameless deaths, Sacco sticks to virtuous journalism by adding sentiment. Humanity is not benign in Sacco’s work like it is in conventional media, but brings it to life in a way that makes it better to understand and relate to. Sacco is not invisible in his work either. His emotions are what guide it and guide us to a truly perfect comprehension of the event/person he is reporting.
Virtuous Journalist: Nicholas D. Kristof
Though Joe Sacco uses the pen in a different way to convey journalism, his work is no less virtuous than the countless articles that were written about World War I and the Bosnian Genocide. Sacco has the talent of being able to visually appeal to and inform readers and viewers, and the ways he does this are what make him virtuous.
In the journalistic comic “Christmas with Karadzic,” Sacco remains independent, choosing to portray Karadzic in a neutral way when he finally is in his presence. Sacco described Karadzic as well-dressed and “healthy looking,” as opposed to comparing his looks to that of a monster of a person, which he clearly was. By being independent, Sacco is also being honest, another virtuous quality of a journalist.
Sacco is equally independent in his illustration “The Great War,” where he chose to portray soldiers with microscopic detail after extensive research of what the war conditions of that time period were actually like. It was the ultimate example of “show, don’t tell.” The detail of these drawings is what makes them able to convey emotion to the viewer better than text on a page ever could. And this would not have been possible had Sacco not been as vigilant as he was to research thoroughly, another virtuous quality of a journalist, according to Kirkhorn.
My choice for a virtuous journalist is Veronica Guerin, who lost her life through her investigative work that exposed the underground drug trade in Dublin, Ireland in 1996.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/in-her-final-article-for-the-sunday-independent-published-this-week-veronica-guerin-interviewed-the-wife-of-tony-felloni-a-jailed-dublin-drug-baron-1339093.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/gangster-wanted-over-murder-of-veronica-guerin-finally-arrested-2069228.html
I remember a handful of semesters back Sacco's "Safe Area Gorazde" was assigned to my 20th century European history class. Aside from analyzing the contents of the book, our class had several lengthy discussion about "what do me make of this?" and what genre can we assign this to? Is this journalism? There were plenty in the class who had a difficult time accepting that a cartoon could be this informative, could be about a topic of such importance. And then there were others that questioned whether this was journalism or not. People debated whether or not his drawing editorialized things too much for them to be considered journalism, or even had objections to including himself in the piece. But it was agreed that there was an abundance of first accounts and information in his book that other journalists were not reporting on. It may not be typical journalism, practiced the way we've been accustomed to digest it, but it is journalism — a kind that looks beyond the standard format, because often there isn't a way to convey the most important information conventionally. When reading in the Times article that Sacco did not want to be "histrionic" in this book, referring to why we didn't make the dead bodies or death in general more prevalent in his drawings, and i thought immediately of Kirkhorn's essay and particularly his part about truth and fairness. Criteria for Kirkhorn's virtuous journalist includes a category for fairness and truth, and i understood those to be in relation to the public — what is in the best interest of the people. Sometimes you have to act independently, outside of the confines of traditional journalism to be fair to the public, to be truthful and humane like Sacco has done.
virtuous journalists i enjoy are John Jeremiah Sullivan, who wrote a collection of stories called Pulphead as well as Aaron Cometbus, who has been self publishing his own work in the form of his fanzine cometbus for many years which includes short stories, interviews and sketches. I also enjoy listening to the podcasts on maximumfun.org although i'm not sure all of them would be considered journalism.
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