Writing For Online Newspapers1

Dianne Smith, MJETravis High SchoolFort Bend ISD

Writing for the web

Shares other news writing characteristics: Brevity Clarity Accuracy

Often breaks long stories into “bite-sized” chunks for busy readers

Makes use of interactive features, such as polls, to involve the reader in ways other media cannot.

The web offers

A bigger canvas for storytelling than newspapers, radio or television can be by themselves because elements of each, plus other features can be incorporated.

On the web, journalists can Publish information as news breaks.

Updates are easy. Scheduled press runs and air times don’t apply.

Be as “in depth” as the situation calls for. There are no limits on space or time.

Link to previously published information or related content to make the story more relevant.

Make use of interactive or multimedia content

Get reader feedback almost immediately

The web is 24/7

Writers for the web emphasize the “up to the minute” aspect of the content. Present tense writing plays up the “happening RIGHT NOW” idea.

Because the story may be online for several days, the time element must be made very clear, so updating involves rewriting content to reflect that.

“Teasing” is important

Just like traditional newspapers and traditional broadcasts, news web sites need to invite readers to look at “what’s inside” or what’s coming. News summaries placed on the front

page Sidebars down one side of the web page Teaser videos

Writing in layers

Headlines and summaries on the web should also be navigation tools, leading readers to inside content.

Headlines, photos, and summaries on this news web site from the British Broadcasting Co. lead to content on “inside” pages. Clicking on the photo brings up a larger version. Clicking on headlines and summaries takes the reader to the full story.

Use standard writing rules Readers are in a hurry.

Use inverted pyramid for news stories Use active voice Use strong verbs Use summary leads Write “tight” Use a punchy attention-grabbing

headline Readers want facts and objectivity, not

puffery.

Make use of microcontent

Small easily digested chunks of information

headlines blurbs Summaries captions lift-out quotes subheadings bullet lists

Photos, multimedia, hypertext It’s all about hypertext linkage.

Earlier stories Documents Discussions Images Data bases Multimedia presentations

These are all tools in helping to tell the story to aid in the reader’s understanding.

Photos, multimedia, hypertext The web editor may also want to

include: Text menus Lists Summaries Word balloons Photo captions Narrations

Flash presentations

Aid in story telling by combining all elements into a type of “movie”

Most news sites incorporate some sort of flash multimedia.

“Writing to the visuals”

The simplest multimedia presentations are slide shows with captions, transitional texts and scripted narration.

This writing may be the job of the reporter or it could fall to the photographer. Convergence is the name of the game.