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.