Skip to content
1981
Volume 10, Issue 1-2
  • ISSN: 2977-6813
  • E-ISSN: 2977-6821

Abstract

This article analyses the ethical implications that come with writing in the confessional genre. Rosalind Coward, journalist and writer, discussed the moral issues of the confessional in her work, specifically in her 2013 book . Additionally, there have been several case studies in which journalists such as Coward have had issues when exploring personal experiences via a public lens. Using the essence of Coward’s research, alongside case studies drawn from recent examples where the use of confessional journalism has generated controversy, one is able to evaluate the interpersonal, legal and emotional challenges caused by confessional writing. It is also possible to posit the idea that personal writing does not conform to traditional journalistic ethics, and thus is in danger of being an unsustainable and unstable mode of journalistic writing.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/jaws_00077_1
2025-10-28
2026-04-23

Metrics

Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Bastone, William (1997), ‘About’, The Smoking Gun, http://www.thesmokinggun.com/about. Accessed 18 January 2024.
  2. Bennett, Laura (2015), ‘The first-person industrial complex’, Slate, 14 September, https://rb.gy/luk612. Accessed 11 November 2023.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Bennett, Catherine (2020), ‘If we can’t rely on its honesty, there really is no point to confessional journalism’, The Guardian, 6 June, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/06/if-we-cant-rely-on-its-honesty-reallly-no-point-to-confessional-journalism. Accessed 18 January 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Buttry, Steve (2013), ‘Journalism isn’t narcissism, but it’s not machinery either’, The Buttry Diary, 4 January, https://stevebuttry.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/. Accessed 19 January 2024.
  5. Chenier, Natasha Rose (2015), ‘On falling in and out of love with my dad’, Jezebel, 17 February, https://jezebel.com/on-falling-in-and-out-of-love-with-my-dad-1686108276. Accessed 11 November 2023.
  6. Council of Europe (2018), ‘Guidelines on safeguarding privacy in the media’, October, https://rm.coe.int/prems-guidelines-on-safeguarding-privacy-in-the-media-2018-/168090289b. Accessed 9 January 2024.
  7. Coward, Rosalind (2010), ‘Me, me, me: The rise and rise of autobiographical journalism’, in S. Allan (ed.), The Routledge Companion to News and Journalism, Oxfordshire: Routledge and Taylor & Francis Group, pp. 23444.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Coward, Rosalind (2013), Speaking Personally: The Rise of Subjective and Confessional Journalism, London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
  9. Diamond, John (2000), ‘Reasons to be cheerful’, The Guardian, 30 December, pp. 12, https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2000/dec/31/featuresreview.review. Accessed 28 March 2025.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Ellis, Tom (2020), ‘The importance of reliable journalism’, Kathimerini, 5 May, https://www.ekathimerini.com/opinion/252329/. Accessed 17 January 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Foster, Jill (2014), ‘Repentance of a drug rebel’, Daily Mail, 26 December, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2887951/. Accessed 18 December 2023.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Greenslade, Roy and Rayner, Jay (2001), ‘John Diamond’, The Guardian, 3 March, https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/mar/03/guardianobituaries.lifeandhealth. Accessed 28 March 2025.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Harcup, Tony (2014), A Dictionary of Journalism, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. History Channel Editors (2011), ‘Oprah Winfrey confronts author James Frey Over lying’, 13 April, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/oprah-winfrey-takes-james-frey-to-task-for-lying. Accessed 18 January 2024.
  15. Jamison, Leslie (2014), ‘Leslie Jamison: Confessional writing is not self-indulgent’, The Guardian, 5 July, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jul/05/leslie-jamison-empathy-exams-confessional-writing-not-self-indulgent. Accessed 27 March 2025.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Kakutani, Michiko (1994), ‘BOOKS OF THE TIMES; the examined life is not worth living either’, New York Times, 20 September, https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/20/books/books-of-the-times-the-examined-life-is-not-worth-living-either.html. Accessed 15 January 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Kirkus Media (2010), ‘Prozac nation’, 19 May, https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/elizabeth-wurtzel/prozac-nation/. Accessed 21 January 2024.
  18. Kitch, Carolyn (1999), ‘Great ideas: Rethinking objectivity in journalism and history: What can we learn from feminist theory and practice?’, American Journalism, 16:2, pp. 11320, https://doi.org/10.1080/08821127.1999.10739177.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Lott, Tim (2022), ‘Essay – against confessional journalism’, Tim Lott’s Writing Boot Camp, 4 October, https://timlott.substack.com/p/essay-against-confessional-journalism. Accessed 5 January 2024.
  20. Malcom, Janet (1989), ‘The journalist and the murderer’, The New Yorker, 5 March, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1989/03/13/the-journalist-and-the-murderer-i. Accessed 13 January 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Marrin, Minette (2009), ‘Her son was betrayed because she’s a writer first, mother second’, The Times, 8 March, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/her-son-was-betrayed-because-shes-a-writer-first-mother-second-5c6hm76m22q. Accessed 11 January 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Nagel, Thomas (1986), The View from Nowhere, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. National Health Service (2022), ‘Assessing capacity’, 8 December, https://rb.gy/oy82q0. Accessed 9 January 2024.
  24. ‘Objectivity’ (2013), Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary & Thesaurus, 4th ed., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/objectivity#. Accessed 11 January 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Parkin, Jill (2009), ‘Why I won’t sell body and soul’, The Guardian, 27 April, https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/apr/27/women-newspapers. Accessed 28 March 2025.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Peters, Chris and Broersma, Marcel Jeroen (2013), Rethinking Journalism: Trust and Participation in a Transformed News Landscape, Oxfordshire: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Proctor, Minna (2012), The Divorce Plot, New York City: Bookforum.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Publishers Weekly (1994), ‘Prozac nation’, 29 August, https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780395680933. Accessed 21 January 2024.
  29. Roberts, Yvonne (2012), ‘Has confessional journalism gone too far?’, The Guardian, 25 February, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/feb/26/confessional-journalism-gone-too-far. Accessed 12 January 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Scrivner, Coltan Wayne (2022), The Psychology of Morbid Curiosity, Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Society of Professional Journalists (2014), ‘SPJ Code of Ethics’, 6 September, https://www.spj.org/pdf/spj-code-of-ethics.pdf. Accessed 11 January 2024.
  32. Sonnemaker, Tyler (2015), ‘Objectivity and the role of journalism in democratic societies’, Claremont McKenna College, 1 December, https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2026&context=cmc_theses. Accessed 27 March 2025.
  33. Strudwick, Patrick (2011), ‘I Salute Liz Jones, the countess of confessional journalism’, The Guardian, 3 November, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/nov/03/liz-jones-confessional-journalism. Accessed 11 January 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Ulin, David L. (2013), ‘Everyone’s life is interesting: Defending confessional nonfiction’, LA Times, 7 January, https://www.latimes.com/books/la-xpm-2013-jan-07-la-et-jc-the-case-for-confessional-nonfiction-20130106-story.html. Accessed 17 January 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Wagner, Erica (2020), ‘With Prozac nation, Elizabeth Wurtzel blew open the memoir as we know it’, The Guardian, 8 January, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jan/08/with-prozac-nation-elizabeth-wurtzel-blew-open-the-memoir-as-we-know-it. Accessed 12 January 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Wahl Jorgensen, Karin (2021), ‘An emotional turn in journalism studies?’, Digital Journalism, 8:2, pp. 17594, https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2019.1697626.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Wakefield, Mary (2020), ‘Getting coronavirus does not bring clarity’, The Spectator, 25 April, https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/getting-coronavirus-does-not-bring-clarity/. Accessed 18 January 2024.
  38. Ward, Stephen J. A. (2009), ‘Covering suicide: Do journalists exploit tragedy?’, Centre for Journalism Ethics, 24 September, https://ethics.journalism.wisc.edu/2009/09/24/covering-suicide. Accessed 9 January 2024.
  39. Waterlow, Lucy (2015), ‘“I had sex with my father”’, Daily Mail, 18 February, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2958236/. Accessed 11 November 2023.
  40. Waterson, Jim (2020), ‘Quarantine article by Dominic Cummings’ wife reported to regulator’, The Guardian, 28 May, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/may/28/quarantine-article-by-dominic-cummings-wife-reported-to-regulator. Accessed 18 January 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Weathers, Helen (2009), ‘“You’re the addict, mum!” Son of Julie Myerson says she’s hooked on exploiting her own children’, Daily Mail, 12 March, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1161332/. Accessed 19 January 2024.
  42. Wurtzel, Elizabeth (1994), Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America, Boston, MA: Houghton Miffflin Harcourt.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Wyatt, Edward (2006), ‘Best-selling memoir draws scrutiny’, New York Times, 10 January, https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/10/books/bestselling-memoir-draws-scrutiny.html. Accessed 17 January 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Burkeman, Oliver (2012), ‘This column will change your life: Morbid curiosity’, The Guardian, 27 July, https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/jul/27/morbid-curiosity-change-life-burkeman. Accessed 27 March 2025.
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Greenberg, David (2022), ‘The war on objectivity in American journalism’, Liberties, 9 June, https://libertiesjournal.com/articles/the-war-on-objectivity-in-american-journalism/. Accessed 12 January 2024.
  46. Open to Debate (2023), ‘Open to Debate: is objectivity essential to journalism?’, 25 August, https://opentodebate.org/debate/is-objectivity-essential-to-journalism/. Accessed 11 January 2024.
/content/journals/10.1386/jaws_00077_1
Loading
  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): authenticity; disclose; ethics; journalism; objectivity; personal
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error
Please enter a valid_number test