John Frow urges writers to “… rather than claiming to speak for anyone else, intellectuals should speak as intellectuals and address their readers as such”(78). I thought this was interesting in relation to “Serial”, in which Sarah Koenig, who is an experienced producer and journalist, sort of seems to be coming from a bit more everymans place in her research. In one instance Koenig is doing some field reporting but notes interruptions at one point to go for food (sets a more than casual tone). Why does she include these tidbits instead of sanitizing them as she does on this American Life? Well, you could look at this from two ways: one is that she is showing her audience her faults and talking to them as she would anyone else, or she’s manipulating her habits as a journalist and a person to appeal to her audience that reaches across the demographics. Continue reading “Frow and the Question of Writing Up and Down”
English Majors Practising Criticism