media

2. John Grierson came up with the term documentary in 1926.
The purpose of documentaries is to document something
that has actually happened. It can be shown using literal
footage or a reconstruction. It can use a narrators voice
over to anchor the meaning or rely on the participants
themselves with perhaps an occasional interjection by
the narrator.
Documentaries are not just about facts instead facts can be
used to create socially critical arguments inviting the
audience to draw their own conclusions.