4 ms·

This kind of reporting interleaved with storytelling in a really weird voice is frustrating. Why do journalists write like this? What purpose does this word sal

by ane 6y ago

This kind of reporting interleaved with storytelling in a really weird voice is frustrating. Why do journalists write like this? What purpose does this word salad serve? I can do this myself! "On a bald September day, a man walks into a barber shop, languishes at the occupied seats, and voilà, while sensing upcoming bowel movements, he discovers the next great theory of economics."

Tomte 6y ago
> Why do journalists write like this? The New Yorker is known for that style, it may even be the prime example of it. People who don't like that style are not the audience. And there are many people who like it. It's like asking why Linux Weekly News never runs poetry. Because it's not that kind of publication.
- dTal 6y ago
  And what a shallow, frenetic dystopia it would be if nobody even attempted to write compelling longform anymore. Remember, 90% of everything is crap. Imagine reading 3 disappointing novels and concluding that novels, as a format, were a waste of time! (Or worse - being unable to appreciate a good novel because you're too impatient for it to get to the exciting bits!)
  - projektfu 6y ago
    Compelling means that the reader doesn’t give up after a few paragraphs. I like long form, like I have subscribed to Harper’s since forever, but sometimes an article is just extended and not more interesting.
SN76477 6y ago
I find NPR guilty of the same. I want to hear a story about how fear affects the lives of primates. And it begins on a cool October day with thoughts of coffee.
- clairity 6y ago
  ...and a partisan obsession for relating every participant’s mask usage (or lack thereof).
FooHentai 6y ago
This is 'Long Form Journalism'. The 'dip in, dip out' paragraph structure is a dead giveaway. Not always what you're looking for but it can be a good way of cracking into a subject you're unfamiliar with, or a good way of merging the human element with something that would otherwise be quite dry. By no means a substitute for regular news, but a good complement to it.
- eplanit 6y ago
  "but a good complement to it" Clearly a matter of opinion whether it's good.
- TwoBit 6y ago
  > it can be a good way of cracking into a subject You mean it can be a good way of stretching an article to fit more ads and increase monetization.
  - dougmwne 6y ago
    I think it is actually optimized for print magazines where someone can be expected to dip in and out when they have a few minutes on the couch and the publisher has a set number of pages to fill. It's not as well suited to the internet where 25 words surrounded by 10 ads seems to be the norm and 5 minutes is an eternity.
  - FooHentai 6y ago
    I don't disagree but national geographic, time, and now the same formats transposed into the online world all have their place. They can act as fantastic springboards into underlying news, scientific research, and other further reading in a way that's similar to but far more engaging than a dry wikipedia article.
- ReptileMan 6y ago
  The problem is not the long form per se, but its misuse. Since usually journalists try to implant human interest stories etc where they don't fit. Long form is good if you have something long to say. Trying to construct a story where there isn't one frustrates the reader. I enjoy in depth exposes, but I don't need the alice, bob and malory viewpoint anchoring. This is my general attitude towards this style of writing, not this specific piece.
AnimalMuppet 6y ago
I suspect that it's a holdover from the past. There once was a time when many people had more time to read than they had stuff to read. This kind of writing was fine. Better than right-to-the-point writing, in fact, because it expanded the amount to be read without actually needing to have more to say. Alternately, it's a way of expanding readership. If you don't know anything about molecular biology, they have to write an article at a layperson's level to explain what they mean. But if you, the reader, don't want to go through the effort of trying to understand even that, then there's this human-interest stuff that may still cause you to decide to buy their magazine.
mssundaram 6y ago
> Why do journalists write like this? It's journalists writing for other journalists.
rq1 6y ago
Logorrhoea. In French, “logorrhée”, means literally “verbal diarrhoea”. It’s symptomatic of people who have not much to say.
BenGosub 6y ago
The real question is who buys this BS? George Orwell is turning in his grave...
aeyes 6y ago
You can condense the facts into 3 paragraphs but why don't we just go all in and present them as bullet points instead of full sentences? When I see a five page article, I know that I'll get background information and I might discover something I didn't expect from the title. While you might only be looking for the study results, I like spending my Sunday afternoon reading long articles teaching me all kinds of interesting information I wouldn't have looked up on my own.
dTal 6y ago
Cosmos was written in a similar style. Try reading it in Carl Sagan's voice and see if it's any more interesting to you. The purpose of longform writing is to provide flavour and context, which are important parts of an information diet. Not everything has to be about the freshest facts delivered to your brain as urgently as possible. Just because you've happened across this in a frenzied binge of clicking HN headlines, doesn't mean it was designed to be consumed that way. If you don't feel you have time to sit through a New Yorker article, save it for later.
jonas21 6y ago
Be kind! The author is a long-time HN user and is probably reading this.
usrusr 6y ago
I'd wholeheartedly agree with your critique if the text was published as a tweet storm. The thing is, this isn't news reporting at all. It's a popsci writeup of the history of the immune system, the history of the discovery of the immune system and a glimpse into its complexity that uses Covid news as the textual equivalent of a cover image. If you have a print of 20000 Leagues under the Sea and the cover shows the kraken attack, would you complain about the number of chapters that don't contain a kraken at all?
nineparts 6y ago
It's because students are being admitted to universities (including ivy league ones) based on informal political quotas. Once inside they don't learn per se but are indoctrinated with the virtues of diversity and tolerance. Nobody should be amazed that when they graduate, they write like a 12 year old: that was the whole point.

by ane 6y ago

Tomte 6y ago

> Why do journalists write like this? The New Yorker is known for that style, it may even be the prime example of it. People who don't like that style are not the audience. And there are many people who like it. It's like asking why Linux Weekly News never runs poetry. Because it's not that kind of publication.

dTal 6y ago
And what a shallow, frenetic dystopia it would be if nobody even attempted to write compelling longform anymore. Remember, 90% of everything is crap. Imagine reading 3 disappointing novels and concluding that novels, as a format, were a waste of time! (Or worse - being unable to appreciate a good novel because you're too impatient for it to get to the exciting bits!)
- projektfu 6y ago
  Compelling means that the reader doesn’t give up after a few paragraphs. I like long form, like I have subscribed to Harper’s since forever, but sometimes an article is just extended and not more interesting.

SN76477 6y ago

I find NPR guilty of the same. I want to hear a story about how fear affects the lives of primates. And it begins on a cool October day with thoughts of coffee.

clairity 6y ago
...and a partisan obsession for relating every participant’s mask usage (or lack thereof).

FooHentai 6y ago

This is 'Long Form Journalism'. The 'dip in, dip out' paragraph structure is a dead giveaway. Not always what you're looking for but it can be a good way of cracking into a subject you're unfamiliar with, or a good way of merging the human element with something that would otherwise be quite dry. By no means a substitute for regular news, but a good complement to it.

eplanit 6y ago
"but a good complement to it" Clearly a matter of opinion whether it's good.
TwoBit 6y ago
> it can be a good way of cracking into a subject You mean it can be a good way of stretching an article to fit more ads and increase monetization.
- dougmwne 6y ago
  I think it is actually optimized for print magazines where someone can be expected to dip in and out when they have a few minutes on the couch and the publisher has a set number of pages to fill. It's not as well suited to the internet where 25 words surrounded by 10 ads seems to be the norm and 5 minutes is an eternity.
- FooHentai 6y ago
  I don't disagree but national geographic, time, and now the same formats transposed into the online world all have their place. They can act as fantastic springboards into underlying news, scientific research, and other further reading in a way that's similar to but far more engaging than a dry wikipedia article.
ReptileMan 6y ago
The problem is not the long form per se, but its misuse. Since usually journalists try to implant human interest stories etc where they don't fit. Long form is good if you have something long to say. Trying to construct a story where there isn't one frustrates the reader. I enjoy in depth exposes, but I don't need the alice, bob and malory viewpoint anchoring. This is my general attitude towards this style of writing, not this specific piece.

AnimalMuppet 6y ago

I suspect that it's a holdover from the past. There once was a time when many people had more time to read than they had stuff to read. This kind of writing was fine. Better than right-to-the-point writing, in fact, because it expanded the amount to be read without actually needing to have more to say. Alternately, it's a way of expanding readership. If you don't know anything about molecular biology, they have to write an article at a layperson's level to explain what they mean. But if you, the reader, don't want to go through the effort of trying to understand even that, then there's this human-interest stuff that may still cause you to decide to buy their magazine.

mssundaram 6y ago

> Why do journalists write like this? It's journalists writing for other journalists.

rq1 6y ago

Logorrhoea. In French, “logorrhée”, means literally “verbal diarrhoea”. It’s symptomatic of people who have not much to say.

BenGosub 6y ago

The real question is who buys this BS? George Orwell is turning in his grave...

aeyes 6y ago

You can condense the facts into 3 paragraphs but why don't we just go all in and present them as bullet points instead of full sentences? When I see a five page article, I know that I'll get background information and I might discover something I didn't expect from the title. While you might only be looking for the study results, I like spending my Sunday afternoon reading long articles teaching me all kinds of interesting information I wouldn't have looked up on my own.

dTal 6y ago

Cosmos was written in a similar style. Try reading it in Carl Sagan's voice and see if it's any more interesting to you. The purpose of longform writing is to provide flavour and context, which are important parts of an information diet. Not everything has to be about the freshest facts delivered to your brain as urgently as possible. Just because you've happened across this in a frenzied binge of clicking HN headlines, doesn't mean it was designed to be consumed that way. If you don't feel you have time to sit through a New Yorker article, save it for later.

jonas21 6y ago

Be kind! The author is a long-time HN user and is probably reading this.

usrusr 6y ago

I'd wholeheartedly agree with your critique if the text was published as a tweet storm. The thing is, this isn't news reporting at all. It's a popsci writeup of the history of the immune system, the history of the discovery of the immune system and a glimpse into its complexity that uses Covid news as the textual equivalent of a cover image. If you have a print of 20000 Leagues under the Sea and the cover shows the kraken attack, would you complain about the number of chapters that don't contain a kraken at all?

nineparts 6y ago

It's because students are being admitted to universities (including ivy league ones) based on informal political quotas. Once inside they don't learn per se but are indoctrinated with the virtues of diversity and tolerance. Nobody should be amazed that when they graduate, they write like a 12 year old: that was the whole point.