"Recurring Reader Affection" from Longer Pieces

Conventional wisdom is that short stuff works best on the web. Countering that notion, Slate magazine has invested in longer magazine pieces (2,000 words +) requiring that every editorial staff member at the online mag take up to six weeks from their regular job to produce one in-depth piece.  These have included Tim Noah’s analysis of why the U.S. hasn’t endured another successful terror attack since 9/11,  Julia Turner’s look at the complexities of signage, June Thomas’ examination of American dentistry, Dahlia Lithwick’s crowd-sourced foray into chick-lit authorship, and John Dickerson’s reclamation of risk-taking after the financial crash gave it a bad name. Read the Nieman Journalism Lab article on this initiative to build what the editor calls "recurring reader affection."