Maybe the average article could be denser (though if you can give some examples of what you mean that might be more convincing). The "long form" piece is a rich

Maybe the average article could be denser (though if you can give some examples of what you mean that might be more convincing). The "long form" piece is a rich stylistic tradition and it would be missing the point to try to compress it. Take John McPhee's writing, for one thing.