How does literary journalism use first-person narration?

In the context of nonfictional prose, literary journalism utilizes first-person narration to move beyond the objective, neutral stance of conventional reporting, allowing for an unapologetically subjective and interpretive viewpoint.1

By employing the "I" or "we," writers establish a personal presence that creates an immersive reading experience. This technique serves several key functions:12

• Personal Witnessing: First-person accounts describe acts of personal witnessing and offer testimonies, which, when combined with detailed observational data, create a form of "ethnographic realism".3
• Thematic Framing: Writers often organize these narratives around themes such as a personal journey, a voyage, or a moment of revelation.3
• Intimacy and Interpretation: This perspective allows the author to act as a personal guide, providing a nuanced "feel" for the facts and sharing their own interpretation of events, which can evoke strong emotional or intellectual responses from the reader.13

Unlike third-person narratives, which may adopt a "fly-on-the-wall" or omniscient perspective to transport the reader into a different time-space continuum, the first-person voice centers the author's presence, lending the work a personal and often haunting force.32