There is no end...

To say that long-form journalism is dying would be the same as saying books, novels and storytelling are also on their way out - it's just not true. Despite the fast-paced society we live in, there is still a need for this drawn-out, lengthy, descriptive type of writing. Maybe it won't be the first story that business men and women choose to read in a hurry on their way to work every morning, but it is the read of choice for those that have the time to sit down and enjoy a good story. Some of the best stories we've read in class this semester - Nightmare on Greenleaf Circle being my favorite - have been long-form journalism pieces. These works have the page space to captivate readers through detail and imagery in order to make the story come to life.

I think there needs to be a balance of writing styles available to readers. News stories appeal to people who need to get informed on current events fast, whereas long-form journalism serves the purpose of entertaining, and really drawing on emotion. I definitely think there is a place for long-form journalism down the road. Maybe it won't be on the cover of The New York Times, but it will certainly have a place in Time, Vogue, or even Runner's World.

The Future of Journalism

No one can argue that journalism isn't changing. In my lifetime there has been a huge increase in the number of platforms that disseminate news. Newspapers and TV news have been supplemented by online media corporations, newspaper's online sites, even Twitter can break news. However, long-form journalism and its stories are here to stay.

Investigative reporting will always be necessary in our society. As long as people continue to read novels and books, they will continue to read long-form journalism. Long-form stories help present the writer's research in a way that intrigues the reader. People also like to read for pleasure, and long-form stories - whether in a magazine, newspaper, or online - can provide this.

However, people today do have shorter attention spans. Therefore, long-form stories will be held to a higher standard. The stories must be well-written, thoroughly reported, and interesting in order to gain readership. Journalists should take the changing market as a challenge and work to create stories that the public will have to read.

Long Form Journalism

As an English major, I need to believe that long-form journalism is going to live. Long-form journalism is the middle ground between the newer short-forms of writing and the traditional novels. In today's fast-paced world, it's becoming rarer and rarer that people, especially adults, take the time to sit down with a novel. Long-form journalism is a way for readers to still be able to enjoy a story with some flair without having to dedicate hours to it.

Now that I'm writing my own piece of long-form journalism, I'm also developing a new sense of respect for journalists who do that type of work. I don't think I ever considered how much research has to go into a long-form piece. It has certainly been a learning experience for me.

Short-Form leading to Long-Form

When I tell people that I am majoring in journalism, some of the first responses that I often receive are "Don't you know that journalism is dying?" My response is that journalism is not dying but rather the print forms of certain types of journalism are dying. My belief is that long-form journalism will remain but only in certain forms. For newspapers, I think people want to know what is going on in a shortened, condensed form. Therefore, long-form journalism for newspapers will not be very successful. Once people read the shortened form, they may decide that they are more interested in the subject and would like to continue to learn more about the subject. Only then will they look to the longer form. People just don't have time to read the entire newspaper cover to cover every morning. Personally, I read the headlines and decks on the newspapers and if something grabs my attention, I will continue to read the article in its entirety.

Magazines are a different story. I believe that magazines, rather than being purely informational, are a source of leisure and pleasure. Most people don't pick up their magazines every morning with their cups of coffee. Instead, magazines are a way for people to relax and read about things that intrigue them. In general people expect to read longer forms of journalism when they pick up a magazine. Magazines have different sections of shorter and longer forms of journalism. Therefore, if someone really does not have time to read a full article, he can read a shorter piece to satisfy him.

When I came to college, I had no idea what I was going to major in. I wrote for the Brown & White my second semester freshman year and decided that I loved journalism. That one experience is comparable to the shorter form which led me to the longer form of taking on journalism as my career down the road. Overall, I think that shorter forms of journalism will lead people to the longer forms of journalism.

It won't end

Long-form journalism will still have a place in the news in 30 years - it has to.

Think about it. Watergate unfolded through long-form investigation. How else would we keep checks and balances? Journalism is the fourth estate. Reporting must go into detail. How else would we keep track of who in the government is pulling wrong doing?

And if long-form journalism doesn't exist in this same form, it must morph into something that keeps up with technology. This is easy - the web is updated immediately.

Long-Form Journalism

I have to agree with Alyssa that I don't think long-form journalism is going to die out altogether, but it is becoming less popular. Now-a-day, people want the most amount of information in the least time-consuming way possible. This is why facebook statuses and twitter updates are so short. It seems that people really don't like to take the time to read long winded articles.

That being said, sometimes I do enjoy reading long articles, if it is about a topic I enjoy learning about. If a story if truly compelling, I find myself wishing it were longer and longer and I am always wanting to know more. Unfortunately, the stories that are usually most compelling are ones that stem from some sort of tragedy. Long-form journalism is best suited for stories with a climax and many interesting stories, in my opinion.

I think that long-form journalism will stay around, because there are always people who want to read it. However, the present generations are becoming more and more interested in getting their information in as few words as possible. In my opinion, both long-form journalism and short-form can coexist! There can be articles that sum up what happened in a few lines, and others that provide great detail where needed.

Long-Form Journalism

In today's age, teenagers and young people are captured by a world of go, go, go, where they expect everything to be done at lightening speed. Their cell phones must have 4G, they must have high-speed Internet, their Tweets must be under 140 characters... Does all of this relate to long-form journalism? Perhaps. In my Media and Society class with Jeremy Littau last semester, we discovered that only 4 our of 55 people in the class read the newspaper on a daily basis. When asked who reads articles that are Tweeted, or posted online, most people raised their hands. Is this because our generation is so used to consuming our media quickly? Perhaps.

If we transfer this to journalism, it could be easy to predict that long-form journalism is a way of the past, or will be very soon. If the print newspaper industry is dying, and the only way for it to survive is online, then it's safe to say this is happening to the journalism industry, as well. But the key to online is that articles must be more pithy, more brief and shorter. So how can long-form journalism survive in a world where newspapers and journals can only survive online? I don't think it can.

Journalism- Is Long-Form Dying?

     I feel that long-form journalism will survive, however it will not be as popular or as commonly read. When someone is especially interested in a topic, they will take the time to read more in-depth information about it. There are times when it is necessary to uncover details and learn about something beyond a 140-word summary. However, I do realize that I find myself getting a little bored after a few pages of a long-form journalism article if it does not really, really draw me in. I find myself more interested in reading fiction when it comes to reading long peices.
     Especially in the case of investigative pieces, long-form journalism is important. For example, last semester a journalist who uncovered the injustices of the Philadelphia court system spoke to my class. His articles prompted people to make changes in Philadelphia because he drew attention to the issue. There will always be a need for that type of long-form journalism, because a short summary of the injustices would not be enough. The journalist needed facts and tons of support and sources to make his case and stand up for his findings against an entire court system.
    Although Twitter can be useful and interesting, especially because it supports being concise and only saying what is necessary, it cannot provide the facts and details necessary to prove certain points, nor can it tell an in-depth story or describe a scene to the extent that you feel like you are there.

Interview Framing

If I could redo one of my interviews for my final piece, I would go back to my interview with Dr. MJ Bishop, an expert in instructional media with an Ed.D. in educational technology. We had to reschedule our first interview because I was sick, and when we finally did meet in her office at Iacocca Hall, I was still getting over laryngitis and could barely talk. 


My horse voice, however, wasn't the main impediment in the interview. I am researching the detrimental affects of technology and social media on teens and was hoping that Dr. Bishop could shed some light on this subject. But, Dr. Bishop has devoted her life to developing technologies for learning in and out of the classroom, she believes technology can serve as a benefit to our kids, and thus was very hesitant to discuss technology or social media in any negative contexts. During the interview Dr. Bishop acknowledged that yes technology can have pitfalls, but despite my pointed questions, would not discuss or elaborate on these issues. I can use her interview to add a new angle to my piece about the positive affects of technology, but was disappointed I couldn't get any juicy tidbits about technology and media's unfavorable side in the interview.


Instead of going back to interview Dr. Bishop, I will interview one of her colleagues that she referred me to. I can work with my questions so that they can better extract information about the negative side of technology and media without the interviewee feeling as though they are betraying their work. This may be a sizable challenge.