Writing/production for the web - BASIC principles

Paul Bradshaw Senior Lecturer, Online Journalism, Magazines and New Media, School of Media, Birmingham City University, UK (mediacourses.com) Blogger, Online Journalism Blog Writing/producing for the web: BASIC principles

BASIC principles

Brevity

People read… 25% slower Source: Jakob Nielsen: http://bit.ly/G4auC

less than 28% of words Jakob Nielsen: http://bit.ly/ZYni

One. idea. per. par. Jakob Nielsen: http://bit.ly/ZYni

Adaptability

The journalist The information

What does the story suit?

What might the user want to do with the information?

Scannability

Users are task-oriented

Headlines need to be literal

Get to the point quick

Subheadings

Bullet lists

Blockquotes

Interactivity

Think blog

Think blog Q&A

Think wiki blog Q&A

Think wiki blog Q&A live chat

Think wiki blog Q&A live chat webcast

Think wiki blog Q&A live chat webcast quiz

Think wiki blog Q&A live chat webcast quiz image map

Think wiki blog Q&A live chat webcast quiz image map poll

Think wiki blog Q&A live chat webcast quiz image map gallery poll

Think wiki blog Q&A live chat webcast quiz image map gallery poll user video

Think wiki blog Q&A live chat webcast quiz image map gallery poll forum user video

Think wiki blog Q&A live chat webcast quiz image map gallery poll forum user video database mashup

Community & Conversation

They are not the audience

Users as co-creators of news

Distributed acts of journalism

Engage: invite and respond

Create social value off your site

Journalism acts of distribution

The story is bigger than the site

Leave your site

Conversation = Distribution

5 things you can do now
Type up a story – make sure you: Have a literal headline
Get to the point in the first par
Include as many links as possible
Break it up with subheads
Split pars so they are as simple as possible.

5 things you can do next
Think about the story/issue – what media would it suit?
What platforms could it use – i.e. live chats, wikis, forums, maps, quiz, etc?
How can you involve users as co-creators before, during and after production?
How can you make the raw information adaptable by users?
Where might those users be online, and how can you gather/produce the story on those platforms?

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Writing/production for the web - BASIC principles

by Paul Bradshaw on Feb 24, 2009

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