Over the last few years, I have been getting to know retired Seattle Times journalist Ross Anderson and his wife, Mary Rothschild, a retired Seattle Times editor. Since moving from Seattle to Port Townsend, the couple has made many contributions to our town’s local newspaper, The Port Townsend Leader, and to writers and many others who want to tell their stories. A common theme in our conversations is first-person writing and the differences between journalism and personal essay/memoir. When Ross sent me a print copy of his essays about going to Alaska under the influence of the writings of Mont Hawthorne (we posted one of them last week), he mentioned feeling pleased to show me he had done some first-person writing in his career. What follows is an extension of our conversation on the topic of personal essay/memoir and journalism.

Sheila
What is it like for a journalist to write in the first person? What I mean is that I know it “goes against” your training. Can you tell us something about that training and then what it is you feel you must put aside to be able to write in the first person?

 Ross
By training and practice, newspaper journalists learn to, with rare exceptions, keep themselves out of their writing. We write strictly in a distant third person, as a neutral observer. At our best, we’re good at witnessing and interpreting people and events and issues in an even-handed voice. This is a relatively recent rule; journalism through the 19th century and into the 20th was usually quite personal, pitched and subjective. But, beginning sometime in the mid-20th century, journalism emerged as something of a profession, and objectivity was a crucial goal.

Now, of course, things are beginning to revert. Conventional journalism seems to come across horribly flat on the web. So, like everything else, old assumptions are in flux. And newspapers have gradually loosened the rules, allowing and even encouraging writers to experiment with different styles and voices — including occasional use of the dreaded first-person pronouns.

I subscribed to the rule for most of my career, respected it and usually had no trouble with it. Writers, especially young writers, want to write about themselves, their own lives and beliefs — if only because they don’t know about anything or anybody else. That’s fine, as long as there is somebody out there interested in reading it, or, more importantly, in paying for it. But writing conventional journalism also taught me to use my other senses, to see and hear other people better, to find a compelling story outside myself. It was a long time before I felt I had anything much to say, so I was comfortable reporting what other people said and did. I learned to interview people, from bums to Presidents, and had to learn how to probe for thoughtful responses and personal stories, to understand all sides of complicated issues. That training and experience made me a better writer, and a better person.

Sheila
How did you decide to break from the “objective stance” of journalism and write in the first person?

Ross
Over time, as I felt more comfortable with myself, I began experimenting occasionally with first-person voice — mostly when writing for the Sunday magazine, which encouraged a more personal writing style. But even then, I used personal pronouns selectively, and always for a specific purpose.

After some 20 years of news writing, I moved over to the Seattle Times editorial board, and began writing a political column. Even there, I rarely wrote about myself; I find columnists who write about themselves to be painfully boring. But I had the freedom to do so when it seemed appropriate. And I enjoyed experimenting with a more personal style.

The Klondike series was something of a breakthrough. I’d been asked to do something to observe the centennial of the Klondike Gold Rush, which essentially put Seattle on the world map. I toyed with several ideas, but quickly decided I needed to retrace the steps of the gold rush. And eventually, I decided to do that in the company of one Mont Hawthorne, who made the journey in 1897 and told his story many years later. It worked. I delivered some 15 pieces, many of them written on a Radio Shack Trash 80 laptop while camped on the banks of the Yukon River. The series was very popular, was nominated for a Pulitzer, and reprinted by the Times.

Ross
Writing in the first person loosened me up tremendously as a writer. I still do most of my journalism in a fairly traditional third person voice. Despite that, I think my journalistic voice is quite personal and conversational. And, when it seems appropriate, I’m comfortable using first-person pronouns. And I’m a better writer, I believe, for being able to do so.

Sheila
Can you offer details about what in your writing improved with first-person writing?

Ross
In certain situations, you want to take your reader with you — steaming up the Inside Passage, climbing Chilkoot Pass. I don’t think I could have told that story nearly as well in third person. It’s a tale about human ambitions and motivations, why people are willing to undertake difficult challenges. But if you read through the series, you’ll also find installments that are told mostly in third person — the mom and her three kids camping beside me on the deck of the Alaska ferry, the modern-day gold miners outside Dawson City.

All writing, whether it is a personal essay, a newspaper piece, or the great American novel, is ultimately about voice. You can’t begin until you have a strong sense of your own perspective. Am I a participant? A distant observer? A sarcastic narrator? It’s not that one voice is better than another, but rather a matter of adopting the voice the works best for the work at hand.

Sheila
What would you advise new journalism students or their teachers to do differently in the training? How might others learn to write objective third-person pieces and be able to switch to subjective first-person? Do you think that it is possible to switch back and forth easily?

Ross
I think switching back and forth is difficult until you understand voice and develop an ear for it. Having done some of both in the Klondike series — sometimes in the same piece –it’s obviously do-able. But even after 40 years of journalism, I still sometimes struggle with finding the appropriate voice. If in doubt, I tend to begin in third person, which I find easier.

I’m not at all sure I would advise anybody to study journalism. I love what I do, and I have enormous respect for the profession. But I suspect journalism is a non-academic discipline. In my career, I’ve never detected much, if any co-relationship between good journalism students and good journalists. Good journalism, like all good writing, comes from some combination of personal experience, discipline, determination, open-mindedness. And I think successful journalists are avid readers — of journalism and other literature. It’s about some combination of learning, processing information, and finally about good storytelling.

Sheila
What might personal essay writers learn from journalists and their approach and training?

Ross
Perhaps the most important lesson essayists might learn from journalists is not so much about the writing, but rather the reporting. Good writers learn from watching and listening to the world, and processing what they’ve learned into a compelling story.

Sheila
I agree. When personal essayists evoke people, actions time and place as they experienced them, they create compelling stories that inform readers about human nature and the natural world. Too often we don’t trust the details we observe and yet therein lies the story, really. As William Carlos Williams said in a poem, “no intelligence but in things.”

Who are your favorite first-person writers and their books?

Ross
I suppose my favorite writer is John McPhee, who is a journalist at heart, but is a master storyteller. Whether he’s writing about the geology of North America, or pro basketball, or birch-bark canoes, he goes out into the world and immerses himself in his subject, then brings his readers along on his journey through the topic. Though he does not frequently use first-person pronouns, his voice is highly personal. To read McPhee is to accompany him on his exploration. He is open-minded and forever curious about the intricacies of the world, and that comes out in each of his books. That is the result of excellent reporting and excellent writing — regardless of what voice he is employing at any particular point.

Sheila
The word “reporting” makes me want to ask you what your opinion is on the state of newspapers and reporting in our electronic age? What do you see ahead?

Ross
Newspapers, as we know them, are on their last legs. The idea of all that paper going plunk on your front porch every morning was pretty archaic even before the Internet. The only thing that keeps them going is an older generation, like me, that can’t enjoy a cup of coffee without the New York Times. But advertisers aren’t interested in people my age, so they’re going elsewhere. The Times and Wall Street Journal will last, but mostly because they’ve also developed a strong online presence. I still prefer reading it on paper, but millions now read the same stories on their computer screens, their Kindles, or their iPhones.

But journalism isn’t dead. Smart people are out there trying to reinvent newspapers, experimenting with all kinds of configurations, and somebody will invent something that will work. James Fallows writes in the current “Atlantic” about Google’s efforts to work with newspapers to find that new model — not out of civic duty, but because Google execs understand that the web needs good, readable journalism — or what they call “content.” My guess is that, five years from now, I won’t be able to get the paper edition of the New York Times, but I’m not so old that I can’t change the way I keep up with the world.

Sheila
Can personal writing inform more deeply than traditional third-person journalism?

Ross
Sure. Newspapers are already blogging extensively, and encouraging exchanges, and I suppose a good blog is essentially a form of personal essay.

Conventional journalism is disappearing, for better or worse. Old rules and old habits are out. Nobody knows what will take their place, but personal essayists are already part of the mix.

Sheila
Anything else you want to tell the Writing It Real audience of personal essayists and poets?

Ross
Whether it’s journalism or personal essays or blogging or novels, writers learn by writing, soliciting feedback from readers they respect, then rewriting, and rewriting again. There is no technology that will change that.

Sheila
I couldn’t agree with you more. Thank you so much for your time and attention.