How does literary journalism arrange information differently from the inverted pyramid news structure?

In the context of nonfictional prose, literary journalism differs significantly from the conventional news structure known as the inverted pyramid.

While the inverted pyramid prioritizes the most critical facts at the beginning of a piece and arranges subsequent information in order of decreasing importance, literary journalism rejects this rigid format. Instead, it organizes information to serve the writer’s specific artistic purpose.1

Because literary journalism aims to create an immersive, narrative experience rather than simply delivering a summary of events, it employs structural techniques common to fiction, such as:

• Flashbacks and other manipulations of time.1
• Parallel crosscutting narratives to build thematic depth.1
• Scene-setting and characterization, which allow the story to unfold through narrative progression rather than a summary lead.1

By prioritizing the "feel" of the facts and the emotional or intellectual engagement of the reader, literary journalism provides a nuanced, interpretive view of reality that transcends the professional norms of standard daily news reporting.1