DEATH BY BUFFET
Harley used observation to extend the narrative of this piece to contribute to the reader’s experience of his story. Essentially the chapters set for readings were a description of a portion of his life, which just happened to be his assignment in India. This was very similar to our class exercise this week ‘yourself as the feature’.
It was appropriate to hear Harleys voice in this piece as he was re-telling an experience in his life. He observed his surroundings and ‘reported’ on them to give us an idea of what it must have been like to be there. This also bolstered what he admitted himself as a lack of news. He made a story of his experience and the impending war was the backdrop.
Harley shows us he has done much research for this assignment. He is also very frank about his reluctance to take the job and the effect it will have on his budding relationship. Often we don’t get such insight into a journalist’s life.
He gives us a preview of the inner morality struggle that journalist sometimes face when Graham Staines and his sons are murdered. When he goes to the home of Glady’s Staines with the intention to interview her, he is fully aware of her suffering and struggles to overcome these feelings to do his job. Him relating her loss to the loss of his own father really shows the reader that journalists do struggle with the cutthroat industry they are in.
The types of pieces where it enhances the story to hear the journalist’s voice are; gonzo journalism, opinions or re-telling of an event that they themselves have experienced.
