UOW Journalism: Literary journalism

Readings

Anatomy of a Miracle...Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the pilot who landed US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River last January, was justly celebrated for his skill and courage. Less has been revealed about other players in the drama: those enigmatic geese, the engines they struck, a pioneering French engineer, and an unsung hero—the Airbus A320 itself. William Langewiesche reports for Vanity Fair

Neverland’s Lost Boys (Vanity Fair March 2004)....The latest charges against Michael Jackson—of molesting a 13-year-old cancer patient—are more than a déjà vu of allegations that led to his $25 million settlement with young Jordie Chandler in 1994. Once again, Jackson and his lawyers are saying the motive of the boy and his family is pure greed. But the King of Pop’s shield of fame and money is wearing thin. Maureen Orth reveals new information from the star’s former business adviser, the ex-wife of his notorious p.i., and other insiders about alleged porn and wine seductions, the forensic search of Neverland, and how both accusers’ lives have been torn apart

A metaphor for the world: William Langewiesche, John Vaillant and looking for the story in long-form (pdf)... Bill Reynold's study of two writers and their methods, with a discussion of what makes their superior magazine features so compelling. In long-form narrative, the story is never simply about the story—it is a metaphor for something much larger. The three-part series, “Unbuilding the World Trade Center” (2002 The Atlantic Monthly), is straightforward. In the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks on Manhattan, a group of men remove debris from the former World Trade Center site. But it is really about how a democratic society forms out of the ruins, with Langewiesche’s story mirroring America’s shifting global stature. John Vaillant’s The Golden Spruce (2005) is a profile of an eco-radical who cut down a one-in-a-billion giant Sitka spruce to protest against a logging company’s clear-cut practices in British Columbia. Yet it is really a story about how, when it comes to humanity’s relationship with the planet, we cannot see the forest for the trees. For authors of long-form, discovering what the story is really about is the key to compelling long-form narratives.