Another old piece from my MA work. This was, in fact, just a small part of a wider essay that I wrote to accompany a portfolio of webzine articles. I have therefore now edited and expanded upon it certain places in order to round it off. I'm posting it in the blog for the future, and hope somebody may yet find it useful... even if they just fish the quotes out of it.
Writing
content for online publication shares many of the same key skills as
traditional journalism insomuch as the content must be relevant,
written in a dynamic and easy to follow manner, and correctly
formatted for the medium of publication. The Jennifer Kyrnin article,
‘10 Tips For Good Web Writing’ published on About.com, breaks
these down into a list of ten easy to remember rules:
Write relevant content.
2. Put
conclusions at the beginning.
3. Write only
one idea per paragraph.
4. Use action
words.
5. Use lists
instead of paragraphs.
6. Limit list
items to 7 words.
7. Write short
sentences.
8. Include
internal sub-headings.
9. Make your
links part of the copy.
10. Proofread
your work.1
However
the first major difference between writing for print and the web is
in the formatting of the articles. As in traditional journalism,
style guides differ from publication to publication depending on the
audience it caters for but many web-based publications today will
have accessibility on a global scale in mind. For example, MSN news
will keep the sentences short, with one idea per paragraph, use
contextual hyperlinks and include sub headings in bold and italic
type. The logic behind keeping the style simple and the format easy
to navigate is due to articles on a screen being harder to read, and
according to the London School of Economics website:
“People
who use the web do not behave like people reading a book. They are
usually looking for specific information. Web authors must make it
easy for them to find what they want.
Studies
show that people read online text a lot slower than printed text.
Reading from a screen for an extended period of time is generally an
unpleasant experience for most users.”2
When
taking this into account we can see a definite gap begin to emerge
between the styles of the articles written for print and the web. For
instance, in the daily newspaper The Independent on the 14th of
August 2010, the article Not stopping at the next station – there's
no driver, about a runaway maintenance train on the London
Underground was featured. On the MSN UK news website, an article on
the same subject appeared titled Tube line cleared due to runaway
maintenance train. The first major difference is visible in the
titles themselves. The Independent article is ambiguous and draws you
in, whereas the MSN article is immediate and full of information. One
reason behind this is what is known as Search Engine Optimisation –
the practice of including certain keywords in articles in order to
gain listings in search engines such as Google. Another reason
according to Jakob Nielson is that:
“In
print, you can spice up linear narrative with anecdotes and
individual examples that support a storytelling approach to
exposition. On the Web, such content often feels like filler; it
slows down users and stands in the way of their getting to the
point.”3
This
example is best illustrated by the opening paragraphs to each
article. In The Independent the opening paragraph is a sentence
containing a brief summary of the story with little information yet
it uses dramatic words such as “Chaos” and “Hurtled” to peak
the reader’s attention.
“A
runaway train brought chaos to London Underground yesterday as it
hurtled through six stops on the Northern line.”4
However
in the MSN article we can immediately see that there is significantly
more information included in the opening paragraph, although the
overall length of the sentences doesn't differ by much.
“A
runaway train went through six stops on a 13-minute journey on the
Tube on Friday with other Underground trains having to be cleared out
of its path.”5
Another
area where web journalism differs from print is in the presentation
of articles, which differs significantly in many areas. The principle
formats for print articles are broken down into three categories;
News, news in brief and features. For online journalists the formats
can include these and sub-sections thereof. For instance a feature
may be included amongst a web of articles that are connected by
hyperlinks. It may be broken down into galleries with photographs
providing the lead ins. Audio and video may also be included to give
more contextual background and interactivity that doesn't detract
from the conciseness of the text. According to Robert Niles, writing
for‘The Online Journalism Review, the opportunity is also there to
utilise other formats than the web article to create a rapport with
the reader by crafting an article that will create a discourse
between the writer and the audience.
“Online
writers can communicate with their readers in many more forms than
the traditional news article. Blogs, ‘Wikis’ and discussion
boards dissolve the barrier between writer and reader, creating a
more informal and interactive writing environment. Take advantage of
this opportunity and distinguish yourself by writing in a clean,
active, conversational style that will make your readers feel as
comfortable reading your words as they feel when talking with a close
friend.”6
Many
publications do operate both print and web services; The Independent,
for example, includes all the articles available in it's newspaper
and magazines and re-prints them on the website. These articles
remain unchanged from the way they appear in print form, but are
incorporated into the web layout with links to similar articles
within the website. This is a common practice among magazines and
newspapers that were published in print before adding a digital wing
as well. This has the benefit of making the content from previous
editions of the publication archival and allowing people, who didn’t
purchase the physical copy in time, to go back and find articles.
However
some publications have begun to switch over to purely digital content
and as such have archived their print editions as pictures in JPG,
PDF or Flash formats. These differ in effectiveness as to the
search-ability of the content on the web as search engines do not as
easily index JPG and Flash files as they do a PDF file. This has led
some web publications to also create downloadable PDF versions of
their articles as an electronic publication (E-Zine etc.) which can
either be sold for a nominal fee or downloaded free of charge.
Provided the downloader has a portable computer or tablet to view the
document on they no longer need to be connected to that site to view
the content.
The
final difference is speed. Although a news site may receive a story
from the same source as a newspaper, the speed at which they are
published differs greatly. A news site like BBC online compared to
The Independent can break news within an hour or so of it happening,
if not instantly. This is due to the speed at which content is
written, checked and published. This is why an initial report will
often be short and sketchy on the details, and followed up with
several more to clarify things, which is not dissimilar from the way
modern rolling TV news operates. As a blog or webzine publication
most news will be broken from a press release or taken second hand
from another news source. These lead to a lot of repetition on sites
as contributor’s copy and paste press releases or directly quote
large chunks of other stories in an attempt to break news quickly.
In stark comparison
newspapers and magazines may have to wait up to between a day and
even a month before the same story can be published. This therefore
gives them more time in which to be able to write original content
and allow for more clarified information to come through before
committing to publication.
With
major publications invested in digital content, and new magazines,
journals and newspapers increasingly opting for a web or other
electronic platform to reach more readers, it is safe to assume that
web writing is a skill that all journalists will need in their
arsenal in the future. Newly qualified journalists will also have to
have an increasing awareness of not only web writing, but also in the
construction of websites. Basic skills such ass hyper linking,
creating and adding pictures and graphics to HTML will all be part
and parcel of prepping articles for publication. That is of course
barring the irreversible collapse of the Internet overnight.
End Notes:
1 Kyrnin, Jennifer. 10 Tips For Good Web Writing. (webdesign.about.com/od/writing/a/aa031405.htm)
2 Writing For The Web. (www.lse.ac.uk/resources/webEditorsHandbook/bestPracticeGuide/editorialWriting/writingForTheWeb.htm ) 2009
3 Nielson, Jacob. Writing Style For Print Vs Web. (www.useit.com/alertbox/print-vs-online-content.html ) June 2008
4 Woodman, Peter. Not stopping at the next station – there's no driver. Independent (London), Saturday 14th August 2010. pp 11.
5 Tube line cleared due to runaway maintenance train. (news.uk.msn.com/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=154392333), Saturday 14th August 2010.
6 Niles, Roberts. How To Write For The Web. OJR: The Online Journalism Review (www.ojr.org/ojr/wiki/writing/), March 2008.
