Narrative journalism: for whom and by whom?
In my opinion, the manner in which this Washington Post article (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2018/07/30/feature/majority-minority-white-workers-at-this-pennsylvania-chicken-plant-now-struggle-to-fit-in/?utm_term=.d95d5afe21bc) is written and framed is meant to evoke empathy for the young, white woman, Heaven Engle, who the story centres around. Personally, I found it difficult to feel very empathetic towards Engle, and was instead wondering why she was so dead set upon not learning Spanish, even for the very practical reasons of having a friend or two with whom she could make small talk at work.
I found myself thinking about the reverse situation, and how a lone person of colour must often feel in predominantly white environments. Code switching also comes to mind, and how people of colour must conform to the (again, predominantly white) social norms of many workplaces. In some senses, there was almost an “Onionesque” quality to the writing, “poor little white girl who can’t speak Spanish,” but I do not think the intention of the article was to mock in any way. In fact, as detailed in an analysis of the article’s reception in the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) (https://www.cjr.org/analysis/washington-post-chicken-factory.php), there are concerns that articles such as this may be used as fodder for white supremacists’ rhetoric about the negative impacts of immigration.
I also was thinking about the owners and managers of this Bell and Evans chicken factory. I wonder if they’re white and intentionally hiring a large majority of Latino workers, and I’m thinking about how the responsibility to make sure employees feel comfortable and included at work is really on them. Suffice it to say that I do not think the owners of the plant are hiring Latino workers for benevolent and altruistic reasons. As it comes up in the Post article, not many white folks want to do this work.
The Post article was highly criticized for not including Latino voices, which is detailed in the CJR analysis. Executive editor of the Washington Post, Martin Baron (recall the editor from the award winning film “Spotlight”) says, …“that from an editorial standpoint the decision was to focus on the point of view of this young woman, and he didn’t feel it necessary to include other voices, other than how they were mentioned in the piece.” In an interview with Hugo Balta, the president of the National Association for Hispanic Journalists, Baron mentioned that the piece was edited by a person of colour and made repeated references to his diverse newsroom.
This opens up a larger conversation about diversity, representation, context, narrative, and the connection between writer and reader. Having diverse staff in your newsroom isn’t enough. As Balta says, “Most newsrooms aren’t reflective of communities they serve…In specifically speaking about Hispanics, we’re not telling our stories. The stories where the focus is on Hispanics, in most cases, are being produced by people who are not members of that community. And not just the writer or reporter, but also the editor, and producers, and people that support the forward-facing journalist.”
One point in the article that was overlooked in the review by CJR (and I would like to know if it came up in the interview between Balta and Baron) is the perspective of Denisse Salvador. True, Salvador was not directly quoted, but we do learn that she had hopes of coming to America and learning English. However, due to the fact that “there was no need to learn English because everyone spoke Spanish” at the chicken plant, Salvador was “nearly as monolingual as when she arrived.” I am sure this is the reality for many. And while speaking only Spanish is not an issue at the chicken plant, what if Salvador wants to get a higher paying, more highly skilled job? Not being able to speak English will be a disadvantage.
Which is another point that merits further interrogation: the complex intersections between race and class. With only a high school education, Heaven’s job prospects are not great either, despite her ability to speak English. Thus, the connections between the lack of highly skilled jobs in economically depressed areas, rumblings from the “white working class,” the conspicuous absence of perspectives from the black working class or Latino working class from many mainstream media outlets, and the fact that “ white Democrats voted for Trump in higher numbers in places where the Latino population had recently grown the most” are made more apparent.
Some final thoughts and questions: what are the demographics of The Washington Post’s readership? Diverse like its newsroom? Hmmm. College educated? Do Heaven and her family have a subscription? At the end of the day, the Washington Post is a business, just like the chicken plant. But the supply and demand of news presumably looks different than the supply and demand of chicken (or labour). But hey, you never know.