Thinking Longform in the light of the seven characteristics of webjournalism: a case study from a series from O Globo

Abstract

The theme of this article is the longform, which involves an extension of the text and the depth both in the production and enjoyment of the reader, differing from the standard narrative of online, with photos, videos, infographics, animations, and games. The objective, in addition to conceptualizing this new format, is to relate it to the seven characteristics of webjournalism, in order to understand which aspects are more present. he methodology used, as well as a bibliographic review of the longform category, involves a case study of the series “Um Século de Escassez” (“A Century of Shortage”), published in O Globo’s website on March 2018, whose motto was to deconstruct the myth of water abundance in Brazil. Two interviews with an executive editor and a reporter of the special subjects sector that acted in the analyzed longform complement the adopted methodology. Of the seven integrating characteristics of webjournalism, interactivity, hyperlink, and multimedia were the most perceived, in line with the literature about longform. The memory characteristic, which is usually not remembered as a central element in the longform, had relative importance in the case in question.