The Journalist and the Murderer is a study by Janet Malcolm about the ethics of journalism, published by Alfred A. Knopf/Random House in 1990. It is an examination of the professional choices that shape a work of non-fiction, as well as a rumination on the morality that underpins the journalistic enterprise. The journalist in question is Joe McGinniss; the murderer is the former Special Forces captain Dr. Jeffrey R. MacDonald, who became the subject of McGinniss's 1983 book Fatal Vision.
When Malcolm's work first appeared in March 1989, as a two-part serialization in The New Yorker, it caused a sensation, becoming the occasion for wide-ranging debate within the news industry.[1] This heavy criticism continued when published in book form a year later. However, The Journalist and the Murderer is now regarded as a "seminal" work, and its "once controversial theory became received wisdom."[2] It ranks 97th on the Modern Library's list of the 100 best non-fiction works of the 20th century."[3]