There are fewer outlets than there used to be for long articles of several thousand words. The New Yorker and the Atlantic still regularly publish them but there's a perception that people have less time and inclination to read such pieces these days, and with so much reading being done a screen, the trend has been for short, bite-sized chunks of info and analysis.
There is and always will be, however, a desire for sustained journalistic stories that unwind and enfold. Reading them requires concentration, but when they're good, they're highly rewarding; I bet you can think of two or three immediately that have stayed with you. When the writing's brilliant, petty concerns about time management tend to evaporate. Try reading the first page of this, for instance, and see if you can stop.
And actually, it may be that such pieces are coming back into vogue, as technology moves on again. The advent of the Kindle and the iPad means that long pieces will start to be a real pleasure to read on-screen. Even better for publishers, the best of them will be worth paying for directly.
All of which is to say that I think this new website is welcome and timely. It gathers together the best longform articles of recent years in one place. You can read about the background to it here.
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