Participatory reporting as method acting: the journalism-theatre connection

Abstract

This research presents a little-discussed reporting technique, termed for the purpose of this research "participatory reporting," and uses research from the field of theatre to examine the technique for its potential contribution to journalism. Participatory reporting is a term used for the purpose of this research to describe a journalistic reporting technique whereby journalists directly participate in stories by doing what the people in those stories do, as opposed to the traditional reporting techniques of observation and interviewing. Together with the journalistic technique of participatory reporting, this research applies a theatrical technique, an acting technique termed for the purpose of this research "method acting," as a theory in an attempt to determine whether similarities exist between the two techniques in terms of their effects on their practitioners, as evidenced by their products, and whether those similarities, if they exist, might indicate participatory reporting's contribution to journalism.