The imperative of personal journalism: James Agee and Let Us Now Praise Famous Men

Abstract

This article, applying the philosophy of Martin Buber, argues in support of personal journalism, because it is a form of journalism that provides for a productive and empowering dialogue with the public, as opposed to impersonal journalism’s monologic voice as that of the observer-knower expert that views sources as objects to be observed, mapped, and categorized. It builds on Matheson’s embrace of Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics to explain and analyze James Agee’s personal journalistic approach in Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. This analysis shows that Agee defends the use of personal reporting with epistemological and ethical arguments and contributes the notion of reflexivity as a necessary condition for personal journalism. Agee adopted a personal approach consciously and reflexively as more ethically and epistemologically sound than impersonal, objective journalism and in doing so developed a strong argument for personal journalism being an imperative for American journalists.