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With old media (specifically television and newsprint) "information bandwidth" was restricted to a limited number of channels and pages. This meant there had to
by sb057 7y ago
With old media (specifically television and newsprint) "information bandwidth" was restricted to a limited number of channels and pages. This meant there had to be a calculation where the editors had to maximize the audience by making the content short enough to not lose the easily distracted, but long enough to be engaging.
High-speed internet has blown open the information bandwidth cap so that now content can be created for every attention niche. This is just anecdotal, but it seems to me part of the decline of traditional journalism has to do with article length. People either want short, snappy headlines that tell them the essential information, or long, elaborately-written pieces thousands of words long. The only reason mid-length articles existed before was a compromise between the two groups.
- K0SM0S 7y agoAnd a subtle but massive change is the removal of imposed formats i.e. artificial time boundaries, as if there were only a few possible lengths for any piece of content — 5 min, 22 min, 42 min, because commercials. Online audiovisual content is refreshing in that it lasts exactly as long as the creator(s) intended to treat the topic. Likewise for article length in blogs.
- noodle 7y agoI feel like there's also something to be said about old media and their revenue models. Commercial breaks are written in to most shows, and show length matters. With newer media, it doesn't matter if you have a 22 minute episode 1 and a 47 minute episode 2 - you create the scene, shot and/or episode length that works for you artistically.