Chip on Your Shoulder

The first place I remember seeing footnotes in a newspaper was the Oct. 11, 2001 edition of The Wall Street Journal in a box titled “Note on Sources” that appeared at the end of "How Five Lives Became One Horror When Terror Struck the Twin Towers." The front-page story reconstructed the events of Sept. 11 through the experiences of five World Trade Center workers.

Of course, I'd read countless editor's notes before, usually brief italicized explanations that detailed the number of sources interviewed, or described computer-assisted reporting methods. And in fact the Journal story featured such a note at the top of its story, informing readers it was "based on interviews with more than 125 witnesses to the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center and its aftermath."

I've always been an avid reader of footnotes, those notes of "reference, explanation, or comment usually placed below the text on a printed page" of a book, as the dictionary defines the device. In my own reporting, footnotes have often led me to a fresh source, an apt statistic or telling fact, or at the very least provided the serendipitous discovery of a new tidbit of knowledge.

A VIRTUAL CONVERSATION

Why use a note to readers? How was the note reported, written, and edited? How have readers reacted? How has the newsroom reacted? Are source notes going to be the norm?

But the appearance of footnotes in a newspaper struck me as so unusual, historic even, that I wanted to find out the story behind them. By phone and e-mail, I interviewed the editor and lead writer of the Journal's story and published our conversation on Poynter Online, along with comments from reporters and editors, some of whom didn't find anything especially noteworthy about the Journal's step. 

Earlier this year, footnotes cropped up again when the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing was awarded to the Los Angeles Times for "Enrique's Journey," by Sonia Nazario, a 24,000-word series that reconstructed the perils a Honduran boy faced as he traveled to America in search of his mother.  The story was accompanied by 7,000 words of footnotes that detailed the source of quotations, facts, scenes, and other information. 

The Times' footnotes attracted attention, some of it critical, with some wondering whether the source notes were included to satisfy contest judges worried about the prospect of choosing a winner that might later emerge as a fabricator. 

"It hasn't got anything to do with winning the Pulitzer," said Rick Meyer, the series' editor, in an interview with Erik Wemple of the Washington City Paper. "It has everything to do with winning the confidence of those that read your newspaper." 

Last month, footnotes made another prominent appearance in an American newspaper.

On June 8, the Providence Journal published "Rape in a small town," by reporter Kate Bramson, which recounted the story of a sexual assault in the town of Burrillville, R.I., the resulting prosecution and the emotional impact of the case on the 15-year old girl who was the victim, and her family. 

Accompanying the story was a 1,000 word sidebar entitled "To our readers." It explained why the story identified the victim only by her first name and did not use her parents' names ("The Journal's policy is to not identify victims of first-degree sexual assault."), and reported that the defendant, a 17-year-old fellow high school student who was convicted of rape in the case, had declined to be interviewed. The bulk of the note — 824 words — was devoted to a detailed summary of Bramson's reporting, organized by subject. 

"Rape in a small town" is a compelling and disturbing story about sexual violence and the shunning of a victim who dared to accuse a popular boy. Bramson's exhaustive reporting enabled her to craft a compelling narrative, rich in scene and detail. The story prompted an outpouring of reader response, much of it expressing support for Laura, the teen who found herself an outcast after she went public with the rape charges.

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I spent eight years as a Providence Journal reporter, from 1977-85, and returned this year to lead a series of writing workshops at the paper. On one visit this spring, I talked about the story-in-progress with Kate Bramson, and her editor, Mimi Burkhardt. On a return visit last month, I was part of a conversation about the rape story sources note with about 25 staffers, including Bramson, Burkhardt, and Joel Rawson, the paper's executive editor.

Afterwards, I asked the three of them if they'd be willing to take part in an e-mail interview on the subject of footnoting the news.

I invite you to read Bramson's story, the Journal's "Note to Readers" and the virtual conversation on the role, implications, and future of footnoting the news. 

"I have no illusions about how the media is viewed in our society, and I know that the Jayson Blair scandal has tarnished our image even more,"  Bramson says. "I knew I had done my homework with this story, and I had no qualms about telling readers that it was extremely thoroughly researched and documented.  Any time we can tell our readers that we take our job seriously and do it well and pay close attention to fact, I think we should."

I agree. Footnoting the news may only be called for occasionally, but the philosophy behind this trend--there's value in making the process of reporting the news more transparent to consumers--represents a vital and good faith effort to renew public confidence in journalistic credibility at a time when both have been seriously damaged.

I hope you'll offer your own thoughts on this trend.