Alex Boyd
This is such an interesting conversation to me. It's drilled into journalists to "report the news, not *be* the news." But at a time when trust is plummeting, many people don't really understand what we do or consider us elites, I wonder if being more personal helps bridge the perceived gap between us and readers. For better or worse, we're just people. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/13/reader-center/getting-personal-with-millions-of-readers.html?smtyp=cur&smid=fb-nytimes&fbclid=IwAR3a-gswxD4KLzIOueKwjjzNU-_JHejGPeG7vHlRvDv8YbBH0xJDsOM4qz4
Getting Personal With Millions of Readers

Three New York Times writers share why sharing their own experiences in some articles is worth it, what boundaries they set and what the night before publication is like.

Nov 14, 2022 at 2:47amWeb
Show threadEvan Urquhart 🏳️‍⚧️Nov 14, 2022

@alexboyd Reporting for the trans community, I HAVE to show who I am. Journalists are not trusted at all, especially ones with ties to mainstream institutions like Slate.

I made peace, to an extent, with the fact that it dings my respectability in the eyes of some old school journalist snob types to put my transness forward. I value accuracy and ethics and everything else as much as the next person, but if I adopt a "view from nowhere" style persona trans people simply will not trust me.

Show threadAlex BoydNov 14, 2022

@e_urq Yeah that's such a good (and practical) point. There's so many reasons why marginalized communities would be skeptical, so if we want coverage to reflect who we are, reporting may have to shift to reflect that.

As someone who has thought about this a lot, wondering what you see as the challenges or the most authentic way to lead with your personal experience? Do you worry about stealing the spotlight? Do you share with sources, include in story? How do you do it right?

Show threadEvan Urquhart 🏳️‍⚧️Nov 14, 2022

@alexboyd I'm one of those people who did a lot of personal essays when I was starting out (though never exclusively).

Lucky: I had a way in. Unlucky: even at the time, it felt unomfortable.

The experience helpedm though. I know how to be the focus of the story and connect w people. I also know I hated it and wanted out as soon as possible. I learned to give just a flavor of voice and "why I'm someone you trust to tell this story," to help the journalism go down easier.

Show threadAlex BoydNov 14, 2022
@e_urq "A flavour of voice" is a good way of putting it. Establish your stake in the game, then get out of the wave. Appreciate the perspective.
Show threadAlex BoydNov 14, 2022

@e_urq Though hoo boy, the pressure to write personal essays feels like a whole other can of worms.

I'm just old enough that I missed that, but I really worry about the younguns coming up now who are under major pressure to mine their own lives or trauma or whatever to get a byline, but then are forever stuck with google results that are all about something insensitive or ignorant or personal that maybe they didn't really want out there. Always feels like exploitation-by-editor to me, frankly.

Show threadEvan Urquhart 🏳️‍⚧️Nov 14, 2022

@alexboyd It's such a weird one for me, personally. Bc it was exploitative. I even felt it at the tiime.

I remember an editor- an amazing person who just really loves personal essays- teasing me about being an open book. And I was like "no. you don't know the half of my real personal life. You get a heavily curated version." But even so, there are notable embarrassments. There were always bound to be.

Still, don't know if I'd be working if I hadn't had the side doorway. Hard to be mad at it.

Show threadPanicButtonNov 14, 2022

@alexboyd Everyone has a bias they come from, no matter how hard they try to step away from it. While I like an effort at being fair, I respect people who don't try to pretend that they are viewing things impartially from high upon Olympus.

Now, obviously, I'm not a journalist, just someone who's seen the value of aiming for impartiality and the pains caused by the same.

Show threadAlex BoydNov 14, 2022

@PanicButton Yeah I hear you. It's hard not to roll your eyes a bit when people pretend to have no perspective on anything. (Lol "from high upon Olympus." Exactly!)

A concept that I have found useful is objectivity of process, if not outcome. So the point is not to never take sides (for example, stories that pit a climate change expert against a skeptic are not helpful) but to look at both sides rigorously and fairly and, if appropriate, reach a conclusion.

Show threadPanicButtonNov 14, 2022
@alexboyd That should be aimed for, yes. Unfortunately, just going through the motions and putting your thumb on the scale in secret or even just the lazy "here's a person who wants to kill all X and a member of X" school of balanced reporting has grown widely and damaged the reputation and methodology of journalism both.
The snobbery implied by my Olympus comment also does much to alienate the audience and distort the perspective of some journalists. Like most things, there's a lot going on.
Show threadAngely MercadoNov 14, 2022
@alexboyd I think this especially important for underrepresented journalists to find ways to connect with the audience. I've seen Latine sources be more likely to open up when I greet them in Spanish, or when we connect over coming from LATAM families. I also want readers to understand that most of us are overworked, underpaid, and nowhere near elite at all.