Gonzo

Sometimes, news is in the form of published books. This astounds me because, given that the book is not an anthology, it means that a current event printed into the book medium must remain current for the sake of consumption. In other words, the topic itself must be so universally profound, modern, and encapsulating that the author is assured its relevance will last for many years to follow. British journalist Jon Ronson mastered this "longform journalism" of sorts, well enough to the point that his investigative books are adapted into movies. In an interview with The Talks, he claims, "I think if I walk into a room, I really know how to make it work as a good piece of page-turning writing." He continues, "there [is] a kind of infiniteness to fiction that is... disconcerting... I don't like this feeling of having no rules." This motivation to write this style of longform journalism seems so paradoxical in today's climate of news media consumption, as it warrants a book to be hundreds of pages in length, but about one single current event. To combat the stubborn immediacy of technological innovation, he turned to publishing works exclusively in the audiobook format to continue his specialized longform journalism. This leads me to hope that the immersive stories told by Ronson and other obsessively investigative journalists will not be thwarted by the expediency of today's news media consumption.  

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