In 'The Journalist and the Murderer', Janet Malcolm explores the complex relationship between truth and storytelling in the world of journalism. The book delves into the chilling case of a convicted murderer who forms a bond with a reporter seeking to uncover his story. Malcolm artfully questions the ethical boundaries of reporting and the moral responsibilities of journalists. As the narrative unfolds, the lines blur between the storyteller and the subject, raising unsettling questions about trust and betrayal. This thought-provoking work challenges readers to reconsider the motives behind every story and the price of honesty.
By Janet Malcolm
Published: 1990
""The journalist is not just an observer but a manipulator of reality, weaving narratives that shape the truth we think we know.""
A seminal work and examination of the psychopathology of journalism. Using a strange and unprecedented lawsuit by a convicted murder againt the journalist who wrote a book about his crime, Malcolm delves into the always uneasy, sometimes tragic relationship that exists between journalist and subject. Featuring the real-life lawsuit of Jeffrey MacDonald, a convicted murderer, against Joe McGinniss, the author of Fatal Vision. In Malcolm's view, neither journalist nor subject can avoid the moral impasse that is built into the journalistic situation. When the text first appeared, as a two-part article in The New Yorker, its thesis seemed so radical and its irony so pitiless that journalists across the country reacted as if stung. Her book is a work of journalism as well as an essay on journalism: it at once exemplifies and dissects its subject. In her interviews with the leading and subsidiary characters in the MacDonald-McGinniss case -- the principals, their lawyers, the members of the jury, and the various persons who testified as expert witnesses at the trial -- Malcolm is always aware of herself as a player in a game that, as she points out, she cannot lose. The journalist-subject encounter has always troubled journalists, but never before has it been looked at so unflinchingly and so ruefully. Hovering over the narrative -- and always on the edge of the reader's consciousness -- is the MacDonald murder case itself, which imparts to the book an atmosphere of anxiety and uncanniness. The Journalist and the Murderer derives from and reflects many of the dominant intellectual concerns of our time, and it will have a particular appeal for those who cherish the odd, the off-center, and the unsolved.
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“"The journalist is not just an observer but a manipulator of reality, weaving narratives that shape the truth we think we know."”
The Journalist and the Murderer
By Janet Malcolm
Discover a world of knowledge through our extensive collection of book summaries.
Janet Malcolm was an influential American journalist and author, renowned for her incisive prose and profound insights into the human condition. Born on July 8, 1934, in Prague, Czechoslovakia, she immigrated to the United States in 1939. Malcolm's notable works include "The Journalist and the Murderer," which examines the ethical dilemmas of journalism, and "The Silent Woman," exploring the life and legacy of Sylvia Plath. Her writing often combines a keen observational style with psychological depth, engaging readers in complex narratives that challenge their perceptions of truth and storytelling. Malcolm's contributions to literature and journalism have left a lasting impact, making her a revered figure in contemporary writing.
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