Interpretive (or Interpretative) journalism or interpretive reporting requires a journalist to go beyond the basic facts related to an event and provide more in-depth news coverage. The lack of precise borders accompanied with diverse theoretical approaches related to what interpretative journalism is in the modern world results in the practice of interpretative journalism overlapping with various other genres of journalism, and furthermore operationalization of interpretative journalism becomes largely blurred. Interpretive journalists must have atypical awareness with and comprehension of a subject with their work involving looking for systems, rationale and influences that explain what they are reporting. The impact of interpretive journalism is when the reporting results in trend-setting articles, powerful think-pieces and further straying into the field of investigative reporting which has become the hallmark of good print journalism. But in recent times with the trend of breaking news and in finding ways to get viewers faster, journalists as well as readers have given up or just don't find time for traditional long-form interpretive reporting.

Definitions

* "It is reporting news depth and with care, news refreshed with background materials to make it comprehensive and meaningful. It is objective judgment based on background knowledge of a situation or appraisal of an event which are essential parts of news." - Lester Markel, editor, The Sunday New Yorks Times * "It is giving the reading public accurate information as fully as the importance of any story dictates." - William

Turner Catledge William Turner Catledge (; 1901–1983) was an American journalist, best known for his work at ''The New York Times''. He was managing editor from 1952 to 1964, when he became the paper's first executive editor. After retiring in 1968, he serv ...

, editor, The New York Times" * "It goes beyond the basic facts of an event or topic to provide context, analysis, and possible consequences." - Brant Houston, executive director,

Investigative Reporters and Editors Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. (IRE) is a nonprofit organization that focuses on improving the quality of journalism, in particular investigative journalism. Formed in 1975, it presents the IRE Awards and holds conferences and training ...

History

In his book Interpretative Reporting (1938) Curtis D. MacDongall wrote that during the beginning of the First World War most Americans were taken by surprise and were unable to understand the reasons why it started. This led to changes in the style of reporting. During the 1920s events such as the Great Depression and the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

threat to global stability caused audiences to be no longer content with the five W's of journalism. In 1923, ''Time'' magazine launched as the first major publication to provide readers with a more analytical interpretation of the news. Many papers responded with a new type of reporting that became known as interpretive journalism. The spread of interpretive reporting brought with it a number of variations such as

new journalism New Journalism is a style of news writing and journalism, developed in the 1960s and 1970s, that uses literary techniques unconventional at the time. It is characterized by a subjective perspective, a literary style reminiscent of long-form non- ...

, activism and

advocacy journalism Advocacy journalism is a genre of journalism that adopts a non-objective viewpoint, usually for some social or political purpose. Some advocacy journalists reject that the traditional ideal of objectivity is possible or practical, in part due to ...

, adversary journalism,

investigative journalism Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years res ...

Definitions

History

See also

References

Further reading