Writing and Editing Online

 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

 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.

 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:  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 TimesNew York Times

 Direct Voice (avoid sarcasm and wit)  Serifs and san serifs  Good headline writing critical  Voice is more conversational

 Writing headlines:  Headlines  Search engine optimization  Keywords  Subheads  Summaries (nut graph)  Writing stories: ◦ Good organization ◦ Short sentences and paragraphs ◦ Section headings and bolding ◦ Bullet points and lists ◦ Adapting content ◦ Writing for blogs

 Inverted pyramid  Chronological  Narrative  Thematic

 Scannable Heads and blurbs  Online story  Longer print story, multimedia extras and reporter notes

 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.

 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.”

 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