ONLINE WRITING
Tricks of the trade
HOW DO PEOPLE READ ON THE
WEB?
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Eyetracking video of a google page
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Usability researcher Jakob Nielsen says its F for fast.
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/reading_pattern.html
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Implications according to Nielsen:
Users will not read material exhaustively
 First two paragraphs must state important information
 Start subheads, paragraphs and bullet-points with
information carrying words
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NIELSEN’S ADVICE FOR WEBSITES
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http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html
One idea per paragraph
 Half the word count of conventional writing
 Employ scannable text because people don’t read
on the web
 Highlighted keywords
 Bulleted lists
 Increase credibility by high quality writing,
graphics and use of outbound hyperlinks
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NOT JUST NIELSEN
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Poynter conducted an eyetracking study in 2006
Results showed:
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Participants read deep into stories in print and online but
reading decreased as length increased
Online participants read more of the story text than
broadsheet and tabloid readers.
There were methodical and scanner readers- online readers
could be both, paper readers likely to be former
Short text and visual elements more accessible and
attractive to readers
Headlines and photos first visual stop for paper readers;
navigation for online readers
Big color photos received more attention in print. Maps and
explanatory graphics were viewed more than charts in
print and online.
BOTTOMLINE FROM BOTH STUDIES
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Scanning across news stories online more likely
than in print (even though online readers may
read more)
Infographics more engaging and attractive
Short text, photos and highlighted words more
attractive
Easy navigation makes a site more attractive to
an online user given it is the first visual stop
THE BIG MOVE FROM PRINT TO
ONLINE
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Change in news processes
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More interaction with the audience
Shift in mindset when it comes to storytelling skills.
(think multiplatform, multimedia)
Entrepreneurial journalism on the rise
24-hour news cycle
More emphasis on graphics, and using data to better
explain a story
The Daily Telegraph explains their process of
converging the newsroom
WHAT ONLINE JOURNALISM
OFFERS
Post by Jay Rosen, media professor at NYU (great
supporter of new media)
http://pressthink.org/2011/04/what-i-think-i-knowabout-journalism/
The more people who participate in the press the
stronger it will be.
 The profession of journalism went awry when it
began to adopt the View from Nowhere.
 The news system will improve when it is made
more useful to people.
 Making facts public does not a public make;
information alone will not inform us.
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PLANNING AN ONLINE STORY
MODERN MULTIMEDIA
JOURNALIST: RAVAN?
ONLINE WRITING: HOW IT IS
DIFFERENT
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Inverted pyramid style still rules supreme.
Sentences are shorter, as are paragraphs.
Especially the lead
Text almost always accompanied by photos or a
graphic or a bullet box or videos. For example
Important to study the audience, understand how
people are using what you are doing.
Basic tips on online writing- a natural summary
ONLINE WRITING: HOW IS IT
DIFFERENT
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Multimedia expertise is not an exception in the
newsroom, it has become the norm- especially for
online publications.
Tools used by amateurs before now adopted by
professionals to give the impression of closely
relating to their audiences
Jeff Jarvis on newspapers adopting video quite
unlike the bigger tv networks such as CNN
 Use of Hipstamatic by a NYT photographer
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Trend encouraging for young students who can
use accessible technology to create multimedia
pieces
A Gizmodo blog entry:
“I can see how the photographer– the person who
was there, documenting a moment in time – can
reasonably argue that his Hipstamatic print
more accurately depicts the feeling of what it was
like to be there.” He added, “Winter might be the
first photojournalist to win an award using a
slick photo app to document an event but he
won’t be the last.”
MOVING ONLINE- NOW WHAT?
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Experience with Reporting Texas
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Design
CMS system /logo/color scheme/format
 Sections (which ones and what to call them)
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Planning for a steady stream of news content
from within the school
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Collaborations with other reporting classes, getting
other teachers on board
Making it prominent and promoting it throughout
the school
TRICKS USED FOR CONTENT
EXPANSION: RT
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Collaborations with other media outlets so that
news published on the site can be used by themgranting the student greater exposure
Establishing internships with local media where
both RT and the outlet use the content
Establishing a class that focused on creating
content exclusively for the site- making it
attractive by providing class credit for what is
effectively an internship
WHEN CREATING A WEBSITE, ASK:
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What purpose will your website serve?
Would you like it to be a daily or a weekly? Or
even a monthly?
Design design design. NPR shows how.
How can you build a product that would help
with collaborations with local media?
KEEPING UP WITH NEW MEDIA
TOOLS
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There are blogs available that constantly update you
with the new technologies that are being released in
the market, for instance:
http://blogs.journalism.co.uk/editors/ ;
www.gigaom.com
It helps to follow scholars like Jeff Jarvis, Jay Rosen
and Clay Shirky- who are constantly debating and
writing (in favor) of the changing news media
One of our own, Amy Schmitz Weiss is really clued in
to the applications that are useful for multimedia
journalism. Follow her blog
CONTENT CREATION AND
MANAGEMENT- ADVICE FROM CASEY
AT AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN
How the Austin-American Statesman maintains its
site:
o
o
o
Twitter- news tips and often times tapping into
the followers to build up photogalleries (a great
way of getting the community involved in the
school newspaper?)
Setting up a network of contributors outside of
the regular writers to have a wider base
Setting up RSS feeds to keep track of what is
being covered by other media for story ideas
TRICKS OF AUSTIN-AMERICAN
STATESMAN
Have a design in which the centerpiece changes
out often- giving the impression of new content
even if it has not been changed
 Have blogs in which comment updates would
mean new content
 Have time stamps on stories which provide visual
cues to the story being updated or changed
 BBC does minute-rants: a correspondent stands
in front of a camera and speaks about an issue
for a minute. An easy way of adding new video to
the site
 Replace the picture on the home page every day
to give a sense of newness to the site
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