A newsroom that publishes ‘27 tools’ is not a newsroom. It is a content mill with a nicer serif.
Listicles are not automatically bad. A well-reported list can save a reader time. The problem is the empty list: a number chosen for search, a paragraph repeated from the vendor site, and no reporter willing to put a name behind the recommendation.
Specific beats comprehensive
We would rather publish five tools with a clear use case than twenty-seven tools nobody tested. The reader should know what was checked, who the tool is for, what it costs, and where it stops being useful.
That standard is slower. It is also what makes a newsroom different from a content mill. A reader should be able to disagree with the conclusion and still trust how it was reached.
The edit is not a punishment for the writer. It is the product.
Filed in NEWSROOM