Where Are You Coming From?: Transparency and Truth-Claims In Dave Cullen's Columbine

Abstract

The increasing prominence of transparency as a news value warrants discussion over its effects in various forms of media. Literary journalism provides a useful platform to assess the function of transparency because of its position on the margins of mainstream journalistic practice. This paper analyses the function of disclosure and participatory transparency against the truth-claims of a book-length work of literary journalism. It concludes that while transparency is valuable in building a journalist’s credibility, significant thought needs to be given to how disclosure transparency interacts with the rhetorical effects of narrative in sustaining the truth-claims made about a text.