Reality Check — August 13, 2012 06:50 AM

Collapsing the line between documentary and fiction

A new film, The Ambassador, exhibits “performance journalism,” a combination of art and reporting

By Alissa Quart

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http://bruggertheambassador.blogspot.com/ explains why THE AMBASSADOR is not a documentary nor a mockumentary, and reveals the inconvenient truth behind the story about what was left out.

#1 Posted by Don Quichote, CJR on Mon 13 Aug 2012 at 01:12 PM

I'm reminded of what Hunter S Thompson said of Nixon in his hilarious obituary:

" Some people will say that words like scum and rotten are wrong for Objective Journalism-- which is true, but they miss the point. It was the built-in blind spots of the Objective rules and dogma that allowed Nixon to slither into the White House in the first place. He looked so good on paper that you could almost vote for him sight unseen. He seemed so all-American, so much like Horatio Alger, that he was able to slip through the cracks of Objective Journalism. You had to get Subjective to see Nixon clearly, and the shock of recognition was often painful. "

The powerful have gotten so good at playing the PR game that you often need to bend the rules in order to evade their skillful obfuscations. Could "real" journalism have given us the images of child labor and blood diamonds that Brugger delivered?

#2 Posted by MikeJake, CJR on Tue 14 Aug 2012 at 12:25 PM

"Could "real" journalism have given us the images of child labor and blood diamonds that Brugger delivered?"

Certainly not. Just like "real" journalism couldn't have taken down ACORN or exposed NPR's leftism....

When you have a bunch of scumbags who are willing to lie, there's nothing like a button cam to set things right.

#3 Posted by padikiller, CJR on Tue 14 Aug 2012 at 07:19 PM

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