You Can’t Keep Good Long Form Journalism Down

by Jimmy Daly on January 24, 2013

Long Form Journalism

Long form journalism is alive and well and prepared for a digital future. Don’t believe me? Read on.

Some cynics would have you believe that the evolution of the Internet is killing our attention spans and journalism along with it. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the Web has actually put journalism at the center of a digital democracy, a place where nearly everyone has access to the same information. Devices have penetrated almost every nook and cranny of the market, setting the stage for what could be a golden age of content.

To be fair, content changes as platforms change. But what really hasn’t changed is that strong content always wins. One hundred years ago, newspapers printed long stories, short stories and everything in between. Depending on the reader, and even the mood of each reader, content of different lengths appeals to different folks. There has never been a single style or length of content that is perfect of every reader. That isn’t changing now and won’t be in the future either. Here are examples of media companies — old and new, big and small — experimenting with new ways to deliver the long form articles that readers love:

  • The New York Times is experimenting with digital native formats as a way to engage readers. Its recent feature “Snow Fall” integrated photos and videos into a beautiful design. The article was read by 3 million people in less than 2 weeks. It is planning more features like this for 2013.
  • BuzzFeed is already synonymous with new media and it is embracing long form journalism. Seems odd for a website built on celebrity GIFs, right? Wrong. BuzzFeed is ready to deliver content readers want. Sometimes that is hilarious pictures of cats and other times it’s a 4,500 word feature like “Atari Teenage Riot: The Inside Story Of Pong And The Video Game Industry’s Big Bang.” BuzzFeed recently hired a dedicated long form editor and even has a weekly email newsletter for its long read fans.
  • Technology website The Verge is another example of a new media company relying on long reads to appeal to readers. Founded in 2011, it integrates beautiful photography and design into an innovative format for long pieces. We can just about guarantee you’ve never seen anything like the article “Not in my house: how Vegas casinos wage a war on cheating,” and we bet you’ll love it.

If you need more evidence of the vitality of long journalism, look no further than the popularity of services like Pocket and Instapaper that allow readers to save articles to other devices to be read later. Sites like The Feature, Longreads and Longform are constantly curating the best long articles on the Web. Lewis DVorkin of Forbes sums up the future of long form journalism eloquently:

Here’s the thing. The future is bright for all forms of journalism, long form included. The supply of credible — and I stress credible — information can’t seem to meet the insatiable demand for news in the digital era. That’s definitely not to say journalists can simply wake up in the morning and merrily do what they did in the grand old days of media privilege. If you want to cover a beat and write a 5,000-word story then you need to find and build an audience for it — and that takes time and a new level of expertise. The rise of digital publishing, social media and the resulting audience fragmentation requires journalists — for that matter, all content creators — to embrace and learn new ways.

Read more here.

Long form writing has an important place in the future of media. Things are changing to the benefit of readers, and smart publishers will follow suit. Just as in the past, the most innovative, trustworthy and hardworking content creators will win out.

Image: NS Newsflash/Flickr

Jimmy Daly

Written by: Jimmy Daly

Jimmy is an Online Content Manager with a background in both marketing and writing. He's also a photographer, runner and axe shredder. Follow him on Twitter and Google+.

  • Yvette Valencia

    Jimmy, you’ve hit the nail on the head with this post. In fact, because more than half of the searches performed on the Internet are information-based, we prefer to produce long form articles for our clients’ sites. And, it makes sense to. Think about it, do you think searchers want to hop around six or seven sites to gain a comprehensive understanding of a particular topic? I can bet that most will say no. Would searchers prefer sites that anticipate their questions, provide well-researched answers, and offer tips for their next steps? Of course, but you can only do this with long form journalism. It is alive and kicking and we’re all about it! Thanks for sharing your research and thoughts on the matter.

  • danielfford

    Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you for writing this post. Long form journalism is so important to content and I’m glad news organizations are experimenting with how to do it right in the digital age. I read the Snow Fall feature and thought it was great, but I was more happy to see long form front and center again. This post warmed my journalist soul.

    • http://www.jimmydaly.com/ Jimmy Daly

      Thanks Dan! I agree and I sleep better at night knowing that the long reads are alive and well.

      • danielfford

         You and me both. Even though I’m usually kept awake by reading long reads.

  • KimCaviness22

    Great post, Mr. Daly. I wonder when all this long-form content is being consumed, do you have any intel on that? Nights, lunch break, weekends only, perhaps?  Or are they being dipped into (furtively?) during the 9-to-5? The examples you cite, especially “Snow Fall,” seem to demand a take-a-time-out, contemplative frame of mind, an expectation I thought had been lost forever. Heartening.

    • http://www.jimmydaly.com/ Jimmy Daly

      I read long articles almost exclusively on my iPad or Kindle and never on a desktop. I save them with Instapaper so I can read on the subway or at night.

      Snowfall was an exception to my typical process. The Times created such an amazing experience on their site that I spent a Friday night on my laptop reading it and engaging with the videos and maps.

      I think the portability of content is an important shift and hopefully will spark more publishers to tackle longform writing.

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