Ch. 6 - Online Writing Styles
Ch. 7 - Hooking and Keeping Readers
"Way New Journalism"
less formal
grabbing readers/shaking them up
witty, irreverent
sometimes, a scorn for traditional news media
more commentary driven
this can raise ethical issues
newsblogs - commentary often comes first, then links to news articles
Reading vs. Scanning
the eye tires faster online than in print
leads to shorter stories (and possibly more links)
how does this contrast with the online advantage of depth?
stories aren't measured in time or length (column inches) but can be measured in words
should a story fit on one page?
newspapers break them up
is linking easier on the reader than scrolling?
how does nonlinearity/interactivity fit?
compare:
and
what is similar? what is different?
How to write for the web experiment
How does an online journalist create interest?
A. Leads
the first sentence/paragraph - generates interest
the second paragraph (nut graph) - fills in important details
both are usually short paragraphs
a key - what in the story is most newsworthy? (criteria from p. 105)
the answer to this question often supplies the info for the lead
types of leads
1. summary lead - based on the 5 Ws
who what when where why(how)
the summary lead can mention all or some
usually using 1 or 2 in the lead sentence generates interest, the reader still has questions
good for hard news
2. narrative (feature) leads
a story telling approach
can highlight the interesting or the unusual
more informal
good for features
doesn't convey as much hard information
3. Other leads
question leads
quotation leads
the key to all - be concise and be interesting
B. The Body
inverted pyramid - facts arranged from most to least important
the most important facts have already gone into the lead and nut graphs
what should follow?
outlining the information through the inverted pyramid forces you to think through the organization of the story
the body still must hold interest
it's the way to hold the reader on your site and the way to get them to related information
the body answers any of the remaining Ws
a question to ask - if the body gets to long, can it be broken up?
key word highlighting may aid in scanning
each remaining paragraph should be short
C. Headlines
often written after the story is written
why?
the story helps determine what is most interesting/newsworthy
the headline may be written by someone else
the headlines should be brief and contain keywords
can use subheads
usually a short one sentence blurb that expands on the headline
D. Graphics
can generate or add interest to the story
cutlines - photo captions
E. Links
headline/lead/nut - More...
more on links in a later chapter