Symposium: Ethnography Meets Journalism - Evidence, Ethics & Trust

Inspired by recent debates between journalists and ethnographers over the status of facts and ideas in reporting, our distinguished panelists look critically at fieldwork and immersive journalism. Ethics, integrity and trust are the themes for the day: Can ethnographers be trusted when their data is unavailable for verification? Do journalistic claims to reveal the truth disguise their own role in creating stories? Join Eric Klinenberg, Eyal Press, and Sudhir Venkatesh as they facilitate a two-panel discussion with Robert Boynton, Ted Conover, Jack Katz, Suketu Mehta, Mario Small, Sarah Stillman, Diane Vaughan, and Caitlin Zaloom.

2:00pm Panel One: Immersion in the Long-Form: Evidence & Inference in Fieldwork and Reporting

Ethnographers and journalists rely on immersion and long-term fieldwork. Yet, the making of “fact” and “story” reveals two distinctive approaches to the use of information to shape public understanding. In the first panel, participants take stock of their respective professions, identifying issues, roadblocks and common misunderstandings. The objective is to explore their respective spheres of creative labor, looking at the conditions in which knowledge, ideas, and narratives are produced.

3:30pm Panel Two: Intersections: Facts, Ethics and Trust

Ethnographers and journalists use distinctive tricks-of-the-trade to build trust with their readers. Common conventions like “peer review” and “fact checking” help foster the impression of reliability and accuracy, though the public rarely sees these practices at work. In this discussion, we peek behind the curtain to examine the inner workings of the two professions. Participants will consider how much, if any, creative license ethnographers and journalists can exercise, and whether readers should assume that the facts and stories they read are accurate.   

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Invited Participants

Robert Boynton, Director of Literary Reportage at NYU

Ted Conover, teaches Ethnography for Journalists at NYU and is the author of Newjack, Coyotes, and other works of immersive nonfiction

Jack Katz, Professor of Sociology at UCLA

Eric Klinenberg, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Institute for Public Knowledge at NYU

Suketu Mehta, Associate Professor of Journalism at NYU and author of Maximum City

Eyal Press, journalist and author of the books Absolute Convictions and Beautiful Souls

Mario Luis Small, Grafstein Family Professor of Sociology and author of Unanticipated Gains

Sarah Stillman, staff writer at The New Yorker

Diane Vaughan, Professor of Sociology at Columbia University

Sudhir Venkatesh, William B Ransford professor of Sociology and Global Thought at Columbia University

Caitlin Zaloom, Associate Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at NYU

* This event is co sponsored by The Craft of Ethnography, a national network of ethnographers that meets annually. Contact Sudhir Venkatesh for info.