Submersion Journalism

Journalists talked about their stories in the book being released that day, Submersion Journalism: Reporting in the Radical First Person from Harper’s Magazine (New Press; September 17, 2008). Bill Wasik, editor of the collection, moderated the panel. They discussed the practice of submersion journalism in which the reporter is an active participant in the subject being covering and presents the reportage in the first-person. The panelists presented their stories from the inside that range from the prison industry to Washington lobbyists. They responded to questions from members of the audience.

Ted Conover is the author of New Jack: Guarding Sing Sing (Random House; 2001), that won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 2001. Jeff Sharlet is the author of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power (Harper; May 20, 2008). Ken Silverstein is the author of Turkmeniscam: How Washington Lobbyists Fought to Flack for a Stalinist Dictatorship (Random House; September 23, 2008).

“Reporting in the Radical First Person” was a panel discussion hosted at 6:30 p.m. ET at the New York University Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute; co-sponsored by the New York University Department of Journalism and Harper’s Magazine. close