Long-long-form journalism

I'm not quite done reading all of the amazing package put together by the Lafayette (Ind.) Journal & Courier this past Sunday, which filled the paper's A section with an uber-in-depth look into drinking at Purdue University. I will go back and finish, though. It's what long-form journalism should be and what more papers should be attempting.

The story was featured in the Society for News Design's Sunday Editions feature for Oct. 6. Designer David Leonard wrote:

"From the night of Thursday, Sept. 26, through the morning hours of Sunday, Sept. 29 — homecoming weekend, when Purdue played host to Northern Illinois — a team of 20 Journal & Courier reporters and photographers fanned out across campus and adjacent West Lafayette neighborhoods to document what a typical drunken weekend looks like.

"We rode with police, visited bars, tailgated with alumni. We walked into house parties, fraternities and sororities, stood watch with homeowners, sat down with municipal and university officials. We talked with the family members of students who have died in alcohol-related tragedies.

"What we found was a community grappling with a culture of drinking that feels like everyone’s responsibility but lies beyond anyone’s control.”

You should read it, too!