What concerns did critics have about composite characters in New Journalism?

Critics of New Journalism expressed significant concern that the use of composite characters—the practice of melding several real people into a single fictionalized figure—threatened the credibility of the entire profession.1

These critics argued that such techniques replaced objectivity with a dangerous subjectivity, fearing that reporters were prioritizing dramatic storytelling over factual accuracy. By blurring the lines between journalism and fiction, these writers were accused of straying from the truth, which opponents maintained was a fundamental requirement of journalistic integrity. While some practitioners defended these methods as necessary to capture the essential truth of a narrative, others adamantly opposed them, asserting that any departure from verifiable facts moved a piece away from journalism and into the realm of fiction. Consequently, many journalists committed to factual reporting explicitly eschewed the use of composite characters, viewing strict adherence to reality as a mandatory ethical standard.12