How does the reporter refer to himself?
This was a question I often grappled with in the newsroom. And I think it may confront journalists today, in an age where interacting with your readers and putting a “face” to your byline is highly focalized, a lot more than it did in the past. The truth is, I don’t know the answer, and I believe it is still one that befuddles even the most veteran reporters.
And because incessantly asking myself (and anyone who would hear me) this very question — as I sat in front of the blinking cursor — never yielded desirable results, I began to look to what reporters at major newspapers were doing. For me, I most often analyze the New York Times when I have ongoing style questions. I began to notice that Times’ reporters most consistently refer to themselves as “this reporter.”
Of course, we don’t want to inject ourselves into stories, so we have to be sure, first, that we cannot write our way around the self-reference. Sometimes self-reference adds a bit of color, and that’s OK, too — granted the story is on the light-hearted side. But to maintain objectivity, self-reference should be held to a minimum.
Perhaps an in-interview moment that features both the source and the reporter provides a good jumping point for your story. In a 2008 story I wrote for The Daily Texan, it was a moment that happened before the interview I chose to include:
Southbound on the Drag, Trey Brown deliberates for a second on where his interview should be held.
“There’s Metro down the block,” he says as he strolls down Guadalupe with a cowboyish gait, his sneaker-clad feet popping up as if spurs were attached to his heels. Then he stops.
“You’re 21, right?” he asks and receives a nod.
“Let’s hit Hole in the Wall,” he says, turning 180 degrees and toward the bar/restaurant. “I could cool down with a beer.”
Because I was leery of using first-person pronouns, even though I had seen them used in music journalism, and not sure referring to myself in the third-person would be even better, I decided to go with the passive voice.
He RECEIVES a nod. Not “I nod.” Or “This reporter nods.” I still don’t know which is right. Maybe there isn’t a “right” way. But as for my thinking here, I was perhaps at a point in my fledgling journalism career where I straddled the line between traditional journalism and experimentation. I liked doing creative things with my stories, but I also didn’t want to bend the rules too much. So I wrote around self-reference. I don’t know if it’s necessarily a good thing here because the reader might be confused as to exactly who is nodding. I figured, though, the setting is an interview, and who else would be interviewing the subject other than the reporter (and the photographer)? These are both people who don’t matter to the story. Therefore, attention should not be drawn to them.
I like the idea of newspapers firmly keeping their stories within the bounds of their own style guides, as the New York Times apparently has with this issue. So I have no problem with “this reporter” as long as it’s consistently used by the publication’s writers. On a personal side note, though, it sounds a bit awkward — perhaps because it reminds me of that “Who has two thumbs and doesn’t care?” sarcastic quip. If you’re not familiar, the punch line is, of course, “This guy!” But I think that may just be me.
Anyway, let’s take a look at ways self-reference is permissible in journalism:
- Full disclosure asides, i.e. “Full disclosure: Gomez is a former employer of mine.”
- Adding a touch of color to a feature story
After this reporter escaped from Taliban captivity in June, Mr. Munadi sent a typically ebullient e-mail message.
“Oh my God!” he wrote. “I’m really really happy for this great news. I’ll thank billions of times the God for this freedom.”
- Referring to the interview and/or observations from the field
Whatever happened to the outré performance art that used to be so much a part of the cultural life of New York, this reporter asked RoseLee Goldberg, the writer, curator and creator of Performa.
- Stories in alternative formats
I’m sure there are more situations where self-reference may come into play, so please write me a note if you think of more. And also send suggestions for addressing this issue. How have you referred to yourselves in your stories? Have you ever referred to yourself? How did you avoid it / work it into your story?
All quotes except the first courtesy of The New York TImes.
