Longform Journalism

As of 2021, longform is a relatively recent name for a journalistic genre that goes by many names: literary journalism, narrative journalism, reportage, nonfiction, journalistic storytelling, and others. Stories of this format can be found in traditional publications such as newspapers, magazines, and books as well as on specialized online platforms such as longform.org or longreads.com, aggregators that curate stories from a variety of sources. The term longform emerged because some entrepreneurs and journalists were looking for a way to capture different kinds of nonfiction writing (e.g., narrative journalism, essays, historical documents, screenplays, book chapters) and make them available on tablets, mobile devices, and on the Web. While the label longform is new, however, the history of this genre goes back to the 19th century, ...