The concept of storytelling and its value to journalism has been under debate for some time, yet the discussion has made little to no progress, write Tim Groot Kormelink and Irene Costera Meijer, both of VU University Amsterdam. Reason to the stall is the multiplicity of mismatching discourses, or repertoires, the authors decide.

After reviewing over 100 text from 1975 onward, the authors identified seven distinct repertoires. These clusters of arguments, rhetorics and wordings are all comprehensible per se, but they are incompatible with each other. With a mix of at least seven different viewpoints, the discussion over the use of storytelling in journalism has not progressed. With an understanding of these repertoires the conversation could finally move forward, the authors conclude.

The analysis was published as an online-first article of the journal Digital Journalism. It can be accessed here (abstract public).