Comments on: Where brevity cripples and distorts reportage https://groundviews.org/2012/05/29/where-brevity-cripples-and-distorts-reportage/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=where-brevity-cripples-and-distorts-reportage Journalism for Citizens Tue, 29 May 2012 12:27:57 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.1 By: roshan https://groundviews.org/2012/05/29/where-brevity-cripples-and-distorts-reportage/#comment-44844 Tue, 29 May 2012 12:27:57 +0000 http://groundviews.org/?p=9424#comment-44844 Nope,

the difference is between the unreadable and the unread.

]]> By: Shaun F https://groundviews.org/2012/05/29/where-brevity-cripples-and-distorts-reportage/#comment-44843 Tue, 29 May 2012 12:09:00 +0000 http://groundviews.org/?p=9424#comment-44843 We shouldn’t dismiss concision in writing – brevity is a good thing and has its place. Yes, it risks over-simplifying issues, but the reader usually recognises it is for a ‘snapshot’ on one particular thread/angle of a wider issue. It is not for a less literate audience, and it forces the author to be concise in language and to-the-point.

The risk with longer articles is that (and I find this true especially for those written by non-native, but very fluent, English speakers) the author tends to make sentences unnecessarily verbose, paragraphs lacking in structure, and an essay that just doesn’t ‘hang’ together. Authors take note: you don’t need to impress upon us your English language credentials – we believe you!

Longer articles are for a more analytical study into an issue (whether small or big) but it can only be successful in analysis when those articles are punctuated with cross-references, quotes, footnotes, graphics, tables etc supportive of the argument. Otherwise it’s just the ramblings of a writer probably on an ego-trip.

Also, you can never adequately summarise a broad and complex issue into one essay. Does a 7,000-word article on Eelam IV really give better justice to the issue than a 700-word article does? Both are inadequate, in this respect.

]]> By: T https://groundviews.org/2012/05/29/where-brevity-cripples-and-distorts-reportage/#comment-44827 Tue, 29 May 2012 05:28:18 +0000 http://groundviews.org/?p=9424#comment-44827 but isn’t this the difference between headline news and the longer feature articles?

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