Washington City Paper
A Post memo distributed on Wednesday gives these story-length rules:
* A day story, significant enough to write for our readers but based on one event or development -- 6 to 15 inches.
* A single event with multiple layers or levels of information -- 18 to 24 inches.
* A more complex news feature of ambition and altitude -- 25-35 inches.
* Major enterprise, involving in-depth reporting or narrative story telling -- 40 to 50 inches.
* Extraordinary long-form narrative or investigation, magazine-type stories -- 60 to 80 inches or, rarely, more.
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"What I enjoy about a paper is the breadth of variety -- and length" (Slate)
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Potts: WP editors are right -- too many stories go on much too long (RJ)
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Style led the way with a directive on shorter stories last year (W'tonian)
