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Autoethnographic Journalism: Subjectivity and Emotionality in Audio Storytelling

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Reconstructing Identity

Abstract

There is a growing trend in journalism to focus on personal storytelling. Interviewees and journalists alike are sharing their real-life experiences, especially suited for the more intimate environments of online media. The audience’s appetite for everyday life stories is driving this mode of journalism, which Rosalind Coward (Journal Pract 4(2): 224–233, 2010) argues can be described as a “new cultural form, a media of personal revelation”. In this chapter, Lindgren examines the role of personal journalism, with a focus on audio storytelling as part of articulating identity. Using a case study, this chapter considers the many pitfalls of autobiographical storytelling, focusing on the need for carefully considered production practices as well as examining the benefits and challenges of journalists putting themselves in the frame.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    While the term “selfie journalism” is most commonly used to describe the use of smartphones by journalists to report and share, the term could also be used to refer to journalists figuratively turning the lens on themselves to include self-narratives in their stories. See Koliska (2015), Maniou and Veglis (2016), Omar (2015).

  2. 2.

    The terms “radio ” and “audio ” are used interchangeably in this chapter in recognition that journalism is now commonly produced to be platform agnostic. Some podcast content is broadcast on radio , and vice versa.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Mia Lindgren

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  1. Mia Lindgren
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Correspondence to Mia Lindgren .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. IATL, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

    Nicholas Monk

  2. Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Mia Lindgren

  3. Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia

    Sarah McDonald  & Sarah Pasfield-Neofitou  & 

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Lindgren, M. (2017). Autoethnographic Journalism: Subjectivity and Emotionality in Audio Storytelling. In: Monk, N., Lindgren, M., McDonald, S., Pasfield-Neofitou, S. (eds) Reconstructing Identity. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58427-0_9

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