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Overview. Discusses the concepts of chunking and distilling for online content Examines how headlines, subheads and summaries can be effectively written Discusses how online story organization and structures can aid scannability
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Overview • Discusses the concepts of chunking and distilling for online content • Examines how headlines, subheads and summaries can be effectively written • Discusses how online story organization and structures can aid scannability • Provides an overview of how online stories can be updated with new information
Writing for Online Media • The written word is still at the heart of online journalism. • Reading online is different, and content has to differ from print copy. • Basic tenets of journalistic writing still apply. • Online writing can be seen as a hybrid form of print and broadcast styles.
What’s Your Viewpoint? • Do you anticipate that writing online news stories will be easier or more difficult than writing traditional news stories (for newspapers, news broadcasts, etc.)? • Which type of news story do you prefer to read?
Scanning • Readers scan for individual words and points of interest rather than read at length. • Lower resolution of a computer screen means reading online takes longer and is more tiring. • Smartphones display only a small amount of text at a time. • Users are task-oriented and looking for something specific.
Chunking and Distilling • Chunking: • Breaking information into logical blocks • CMS • Distilling: • Refining the essence of a story into various shorter forms • Condensing a long story down to its essential points • Example from the New York Times
What’s Your Viewpoint? • How do you read news stories online? • Do you just want to know the headlines of a breaking story? Or do you read stories in more depth? • Does it make a difference if you’re reading a traditional news site (CNN) or a blog (Huffington Post)? How?
Writing for the Online Reader • Writing stories: • Good organization • Short sentences and paragraphs • Section headings and bolding • Bullet points and lists • Adapting content • Writing for blogs • Writing headlines: • Headlines • Search engine optimization • Keywords • Subheads • Summaries (nut graph)
Story Structures • Inverted pyramid • Chronological • Narrative • Thematic
Adapting Content fromOther Media • Online journalists may have to take content from other media and adapt it for the online audience. • “Shovelware” • “There’s more to it than slapping it on the Web.”
Writing for Blogs • In blogs, journalists are able to use forms that are less formal and have less structure • But—still maintain a consistent style and follow rules of spelling and grammar
Updating Online Stories • Online readers expect updated information, especially in breaking stories. • Inverted pyramid story style is most often used. • Key is to integrate new information into the story smoothly. • Keep the most important info near the beginning.