Documentary Journalism

A Field Guide to Collaborative Storytelling, Human Connection, and Emotional Impact
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-041-36910-3
Verlag: Taylor & Francis

Buch, Englisch, 194 Seiten, Format (B × H): 178 mm x 254 mm

With a case-study and master-class methodology, this book gives readers an inside look at how professional documentary journalists work to move audiences beyond information into feeling.

Through detailed interviews with contemporary documentary journalists working for The New York Times, The New Yorker, Mother Jones, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Seattle Times, this text shows how practitioners create intimate visual narratives addressing issues like climate change, Indigenous land sovereignty, immigration, veterans with PTSD, and HIV survivors. To this end, each chapter focuses on a specific filmmaker’s approach to lens choices, sound design, interviewing techniques, and editing rhythms. Using an evidence-based active learning cycle of concept exploration, introduction, and application, the text provides practical exercises and real-world case studies. It also offers hands-on guidance in sensory documentary creation, script development, pitch deck creation, and AI-assisted research methodologies that transform information into experiential knowledge.

The book serves as a core text in upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in video journalism, documentary production, multimedia journalism, and digital media production and is also an ideal aid to self-directed learning.

Online resources are included with this book: links to documentary films discussed in each chapter, downloadable exercise worksheets, quiz banks for each chapter, and an instructor’s manual with suggested syllabi for 15-week semester courses, chapter pacing guides, and strategies for adapting exercises to different class sizes and skill levels. Please visit www.routledge.com/9781041369103.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate, Professional Practice & Development, and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Lancaster, Kurt

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Theater- und Filmwissenschaft | Andere Darstellende Künste Filmwissenschaft, Fernsehen, Radio Filmproduktion, Filmtechnik
• Geisteswissenschaften Kunst Kunstformen, Kunsthandwerk Installations-, Aktions-, Computer- und Videokunst
• Sozialwissenschaften Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften Medienwissenschaften Journalismus & Presse

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Foreword by Wes Pope, Acknowledgments, Introduction, Chapter 1: Justin Clifton: Making the Environmental Case-Study of Leche y Miel (Milk and Honey), Chapter 2 From Pitch Deck to Script Development: A Hands-On Workshop for Documentary Story Structure, Chapter 3: Lauren Frohne: Making Connections Through an Intimate Lens in Environmental Documentary Journalism, Chapter 4. César Martínez Barba: Creating Sensory Documentaries Through Lens Choices, Sound Design, and Editing Rhythms, Chapter 5 Mark Helenowski and Samantha Michaels: Collaborating and Building Trust with a Camera in After the Crash, Chapter 6. Erin Brethauer and Tim Hussin: Developing the Vulnerability of Participant-Driven Stories, Chapter 7. A Sound Design Workshop for Creating Sensory Documentaries in Steve Roach: Life in the Soundcurrent, Chapter 8. Creating an AI Research Assistant for Documentary Story Research and Development, Index

Über Autor(innen)

Kurt Lancaster is Professor of Creative Media and Film at Northern Arizona University, USA. His feature documentary, Steve Roach: Life in the Soundcurrent (2023), earned Grand Winner Best Documentary Over 30 Minutes at Newsfest (True Stories) in Santa Monica, Best Sound Design at the European Cinematography Awards, and Best Music Documentary at The Santa Clarita International Film Festival. Kurt received his PhD from NYU, where he attended the Tisch School of the Arts.