Should you care about traditional journalism in the age of shortform media?

As shortform media platforms reshape how college students consume news, shortform journalism is sidelining traditional journalism. In a media landscape driven by the need for clicks, longform journalism remains integral to our society. 

Photo by Sophie Merittt & Haley Scull/The Barnard Bulletin

By Sitara Reganti

May 6, 2026

In the age of digital media, shortform journalism presents itself in many ways — TikTok, Instagram Reels, Facebook, and the list goes on. Among college students, shortform media presents a quick and easy way to gather information on current events. So, in the fast-paced 21st century, should we bother absorbing longform journalism? The short answer is yes. The long answer, however, demands something more fleshed out. 

Shortform content has completely changed how we process information. According to the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, excessive engagement with shortform content “poses risks to both physical and mental health of individuals.” This speaks to the deeper issue: attention. Shortform media trains users to expect information in quick, digestible bursts. Over time, this makes it more difficult to engage with more complex material scattered with different nuances — the type of material that traditional, longform journalism is built on.

Shortform journalism prioritizes speed over depth. As students, we often turn to shortform media because it takes up less time, and in a fast-paced college environment, speed is the priority. Readers learn about a small part of a situation and leave with the quick takeaway they were given. Shortform journalism often lacks important historical context. Stories that require careful explanation are reduced to a few seconds of content. Audiences leave with a surface-level understanding of issues that are anything but simple. 

Longform journalism, on the other hand, forces you to slow down. It asks you to sit with a story, to consider multiple perspectives, and to engage with the details. Whether it is investigative reporting, political analysis, or cultural commentary, longform pieces provide the background and depth necessary to actually understand what is happening. The takeaway is not just given to you; instead, you get to form your own analysis. 

Julianna Goldman (BC ’03), an award-winning journalist, shared her insights in a written statement: “We should definitely still care about long-form journalism, and I think people care for it more than they perhaps realize. Long form journalism isn’t just a 3000-word article — it is also a podcast, a documentary, a long interview on YouTube and a long article in Substack. At a time when people are scrolling for headlines and soundbytes, where algorithms are dictating what you see and AI is making it difficult to discern fact from fiction, it’s all the more important for news consumers to have outlets where they can dig deeper.”

Goldman brings about another important issue: misinformation permeating society. It is difficult for people to find reliable news sources, leading them to turn to the most accessible news. At the end of the day, however, shortform platforms are designed for clicks and likes — not accuracy. A misleading or oversimplified claim can circulate widely before it is ever fact-checked. Without the context that longform journalism provides, it is much easier to accept incomplete, or sometimes false, information as fact.

That is not to say shortform journalism has no value. It can be a useful entry point, a way to stay informed quickly or discover stories you might not have encountered otherwise. However, it should not be the end point. Relying solely on shortform content is like reading only the first sentence of every article. You might get a sense of what is happening, but you miss everything that actually makes the story meaningful.

Dr. Sheri Berman, the Political Science Department Chair at Barnard College, discussed in a written statement about the “democratization” shortform media has brought, along with its faults: “Yes, we should of course care about traditional journalism in an age of shortform media. Traditional journalism has a different form and, relatedly, a different purpose than shortform content.” 

Berman continued, “Much — though not all — of the latter is commentary: individuals or small organizations publicizing their views on particular issues, with little infrastructure for in-depth or sustained coverage of communities or public affairs. The explosion of shortform media has democratized news discussion in the sense of allowing more people to participate in it, but that democratization has come at the price of drowning out traditional journalistic outlets and making it financially difficult for them to survive.” 

“This, in turn, has deprived citizens and communities of outlets able to invest the long-term resources required for news coverage that at least strives for objectivity and balance,” she concluded.

Now, the answer to the original question of if we should care about longform journalism in the age of shortform content remains yes. In an era dominated by shortform content, longform journalism still matters, arguably more than ever. While shortform content tells us what is trending, longform journalism tells us what is true, what is complex, and what is worth paying attention to. So, next time you stumble across a TikTok or reel informing you of a current event, exit the app, look it up on the internet, and learn. Learn about what is actually happening. Learn about the historical context. Learn about its effects. Learn about the world around you. Just learn. You will be surprised at how transformative journalism can be — if you give it a fair chance.