David Dowling, professor in the University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication, has published two books that explore the evolution of narrative journalism in the digital age. 

In the early 2000s, some critics worried that the internet’s rapid-paced, racy headline-fueled news would erase longer-form story narratives from media. Dowling argues the opposite; he writes that digital media has birthed a renaissance and reimagining of narrative storytelling. 

In his book Podcast Journalism: The Promise and Perils of Audio Reporting (Columbia University Press), Dowling examines how podcasts are transforming the journalistic landscape. He addresses how podcasts become businesses, providing space for entertainment, advertising, and niche discourse. Yet a business approach with podcasts can become a concern, such as when entertainment buries journalistic principles, sponsors influence content, or socio-political discourse turns into disinformation. 

Dowling and Jacqueline Marino co-edited The Art of Fact in the Digital Age: An Anthology of New Literary Journalism (Bloomsbury), a compilation of other authors' pieces that Dowling believes best highlights the evolution of narrative journalism in the digital era.

Dowling foresees a continued interaction between narrative media and digital platforms.

“The future of journalism will continue to co-evolve with the media through which they are produced and consumed,” he says.