I wonder if the fact that most of the authors are men influences the subject matter, ex. barbeque and pizza.

Re writing pieces this long on a blog, I can’t think of any examples. I don’t think it’s the right place. Hank’s blog is pretty meaty, though (pun intended).

I agree with your assessment that the judges for both James Beard and the IACP journalism awards respond favorably to longer pieces and it isn’t hard to understand why. Depth. Serious research. Emotional commitment to the topic. And…time. As Alan Richman describes, it takes a lot of time to do the legwork—as well as analysis/synthesis/cogitation—to write the kind of piece that he does (and that wins decoration). Writing skill and a compelling voice are a given.

I don’t see many venues seeking this kind of writing these days—much less funding it—and those that do tend to stick with writers they know (like Richman and Edge). While it’s theoretically possible to do this kind of work on a blog, I can’t really think of any examples. Can you?

I’m trying to figure out (not there yet) what I think about the idea that the awards judges are holding writing entries to a standard that the current market doesn’t support or sustain.

I sure hope Stephanie is right that the pendulum will swing back and there will once again be a demand for longer, in-depth writing. Perhaps the New World Order of publishing promised by the IPad platform is a step toward providing such a market.

So true. Twitter, etc is killing our attention spans…

I’ve also noticed that detailed, long-form food writing is falling out of vogue, but I believe that it will return at some point when people get frustrated with snippets of narrative that leave them dissatisfied. There’s no replacement for a good, in-depth story. I mean, movies are still getting longer, aren’t they?