ABSTRACT
This chapter uses epistemologist Lorraine Code’s approach of “ecological thinking” to explore the ethics of “knowing well” in the discipline of literary journalism. “Ecological thinking” is an approach to epistemology that conceives of knowledge as existing in an ecological system, where knowledge is always located in place and time and is subject to factors such as gender, race, education, and privilege. Envisaging knowledge in this way probes the assumptions on which existing journalistic ethical codes are based. Using various case studies and interviews from literary journalists, this chapter begins to map out an ecological approach to ethical literary journalism and invites a re-visioning of ethical engagement among author, subject, and reader. It considers the relationship between epistemology and ethics as well as their relationship to advocacy, arguing that many historical and contemporary literary journalists display an orientation of advocacy toward marginalized subjects. The chapter concludes that “ecological thinking” can be a powerful lens through which to explore literary journalistic ethics as it places the practitioner at the locus of moral responsibility for “knowing well,” while recognizing the interdependence of writers and subjects in particular environments to negotiate responsible representation.
