Mike Allen, the one time New York Times Connecticut state capitol reporter, is one of the founding journalism entrepreneurs behind Axios.
Allen and Jim VandeHei are advocates of a writing style they have dubbed “smart brevity” and they often evangelize in favor of the form to anyone who will listen. In fact, they have now written a book about it. A short book.
Not surprisingly, Clare Malone, writing for The New Yorker(known best for its long-form journalism) is not convinced the times we are living in are explained well in bullet points.
Getting to her point with One Big Thing:
“…at this moment of tumult and change—with two contentious elections bearing down on us—it’s slightly unnerving that the model of journalism that’s franchising and acquiring investment is the one devoted to simplifying what really can’t be simplified. Readers may want brevity, but the times call for nuance.”
