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buzzfeed listicle
Buzzfeed is one of the sites that has embraced the listicle as a way to convey information to the 'news snacking' consumer. Photograph: Buzzfeed
Buzzfeed is one of the sites that has embraced the listicle as a way to convey information to the 'news snacking' consumer. Photograph: Buzzfeed

5 ways the listicle is changing journalism

This article is more than 10 years old
The listicle has evolved from print staple to a staple of digital journalism that feeds an emergent 'news snacking' consumer

The journalistic lexicon has a new entry; the 'listicle', describing a list-based article. From The Sunday Times '100 Best Companies' to Buzzfeed's '31 Thing You Can Make Out of Cereal Boxes', listicles are equally beloved for their condensed information format and online virility and decried as lazy journalism for the perennial lunchtime 'news snacker'.

With a hint of irony, here are five ways listicles are changing the face of journalism.

1) News snacking
A 2013 survey of news reading habits by news syndication company Mobiles Republic found news reading to have been replaced by 'news snacking'; checking news content far more frequently, for short, sharp bursts of attention. Sharon Flaherty, head of content and PR at Confused.com, says the listicle lends itself to mobile device use.

"While Buzzfeed may have popularised the listicle, lists are nothing new in journalism. It has become a popular format as mobile news consumption has increased and readers want scan-able content," she says, "and competition for those eyeballs on your content has become fiercer."

2) Audience demographics
The perceived wisdom is that younger audiences, with their alleged shorter attention spans, have driven the demand for listicles that deliver bite-sized, easily scan-read information that's also easily shareable across social media. Ross Hawkes, senior lecturer in journalism at Birmingham City University argues that while they may be a generational aspect, "it's not so much about attention span but the lifestyle of the audience".

He says: "My parents would be mortified by a list being considered a news article, but a younger audience is far more comfortable with bullet-pointed information, they're used to consuming 140-character information, short or visual Facebook updates and receiving a sample of what's going on." As digital natives mature into mainstream news consumers, article format preferences will change to accommodate their tastes.

3) Print meets digital meets print (again)
Luke Lewis, UK editor of Buzzfeed, agrees lists have been a journalism mainstay "for decades", pointing to magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Men's Health that typically carried sex-related listicle headlines on their front pages.

He explains: "I don't think lists are more prevalent [in articles] now than they used to be. It's a print thing that's been around for a long time. There's this weird idea that Buzzfeed invented the list format and newspapers are now trying to copy Buzzfeed. I don't think that's true."

4) Telling the story in different ways
Lewis alludes to journalism snobbery in considering listicles to be a derided and derived journalistic format to express a story. "People have this idea, a weird duality, that a written 300-word article is quality journalism but a list post is something that is just tossed off and is cheaper to produce; it's a nonsense," he says.

However, Simon Hinde, programme director of journalism and publishing at London College of Communication disagrees. "It's very quick to produce because the listicle structure can be filled in. A 1500-word piece will take longer to research and produce, and the rate the journalist is paid probably doesn't allow for that, so it's tempting to research from Wikipedia then write it up [as a listicle] is a quick way to create copy," he says, adding: "It's extrapolating to the extreme but there is a risk of that."

Stephen Hull, executive editor of Huffington Post UK says digital journalism is about producing different types of content, "be that video-encrypted pieces, image slideshows or lists". He adds: "Listicles make up just part of that much bigger picture."

5) Is it about the money, stupid?
Slide-show or 'click-through' listicles generate more page impressions, a factor that drives advertising revenue, which has increased speculation that some listicles are commercially – rather than content – motivated.

Mr Hull says: "It's no secret that slideshows or galleries create more page impressions. Most of our listicles explain an issue and act as an add-on to a meatier story that uses a traditional journalism format, whereby you can build additional content around an important issue."

He adds that if readers don't like a journalistic style, their views are aired on social media, directly with the publication and, of course, digital journalism is held accountable by web analytics. Which journalistic format, styles and content readers prefer today, can just as quickly change tomorrow.

Anna Lawlor is a journalist, editor and content creator and director of Social i Media. She can be reached at Anna.Lawlor@Social-i-Media.co.uk and @SocialiMediaUK.

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