Female reporters who traveled with political candidates during presidential elections face hardships maintaining their objectivity and womanhood in a cut-throat industry. New York Times political reporter Amy Chozick discussed these struggles after screening the first episode of her new Max series, “The Girls on the Bus,” Monday afternoon in the Sheindlin Forum.
“I hope the series shows how hard the job of a journalist is,” Chozick said. “You see their personal lives, a dumpster fire because they’re giving their lives for this job.”
Chozick’s new series is inspired by elements of her 2018 memoir “Chasing Hillary” which explored her first-hand experience covering Hilary Clinton’s presidential campaign for The New York Times. “The Girls on the Bus” centers around four female political reporters who struggle with making a name for themselves while balancing friendship and relationships in modern day journalism.
“I think what was beautiful about having these various four different types of journalists is that we could get into these debates and ideals that are happening in campaigns, or in your classrooms and newsrooms,” Chozick said.
In the series, Chozick challenges the theme of objectivity in new-age reporting with each of the characters representing different takes. Lola, one of the protagonists, struggles to follow her editor’s wishes and write purely objectively, or to write from her heart.
Chozick explained that through her experience as a political journalist, she is not entirely sure if objectivity fully exists in the industry.
“How can you not bring your own personal perspective or life experiences to a story?” Chozick asked. “We are all human. Is it dishonest in a way to say we are all sentient human beings with our bringing of our own perspective?”
In a continuously changing technology-dependent industry, Chozick provided advice for aspiring journalists. She explained that writing with a deadline, especially through her experience riding on a noisy bus with spotty WiFi, is a muscle that you develop over time.
Students agreed that central themes of challenging objectivity and authenticity were addressed.
“You start to wonder what is the most correct way to report,” journalism student Sara Alsowaidi said after the presentation. “It is this tug-of-war between being more objective or should I be more authentic in my writing.”
Chozick noted that this adaptation from non-fiction reporting to fictional storytelling has been a fun experience for her to collaborate with other female journalists such as Ashley Parker from The Washington Post and The New York Times’ Maureen Dowd. Their experiences were often referenced in the series.
Chozick described the empowering privilege in narrative-fiction writing to create things that never happened in real life, and romanticize the beauty of creating imaginary friends who serve as the protagonists that resonate with her and her colleagues’ experiences.
“We really wanted to put the focus on women and friendships rather than politics,” Chozick said. “It’s about the sound of a family of female journalists covering a fictional Democratic primary and coming together.”
The series received mixed reviews online, including a 55% on Rotten Tomatoes. But the comments don’t faze Chozick.
“We didn’t make this show for critics,” Chozick said, “I’ve developed a pretty thick skin as a journalist.”