Long-Form Storytelling in a Short-Attention-Span World

View last night's lively 90-minute discussion. The panelists -- The New Yorker's David Remnick; ProPublica's Stephen Engelberg; This American Life's Ira Glass; and FRONTLINE's Raney Aronson-Rath.

Along with some quips and teasing and inside stories about writing and editing, the four fielded dozens of questions on long-form storytelling in a 24/7 news cycle, tips on writing/reporting careers, and the costs of long-form stories and investigative projects.

Some quotes drawn from tweets during the event:

"Media in the 24-hour news cycle has an aesthetic, and it leaves out things like character and plot." -Ira Glass

"J-school doesn't matter. Critical thinking and writing are key." -Stephen Engelberg

"Moby Dick sold 3,000 copies in Melville's lifetime. It was an enterprise worth doing." -David Remnick

"The tablet and the iPad are amazing, a salvation almost, for documentary filmmaking." -Raney Aronson-Rath

"People say long-form is dead. Long-form is absolutely not dead. What is dead is bad long-form." -Steve Engelberg

"Learn to read like a writer in the same way a doctor looks at a human body ... a little differently than the rest of us." -David Remnick

"Great stories happen to those who can tell them." -Ira Glass

"We're going to have to think much more three-dimensionally than two-dimensionally. You're going to expect more when you see a FRONTLINE film." -Raney Aronson-Rath