Writing Business News for the Web (Day 2)
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WRITING BUSINESS NEWSWRITING BUSINESS NEWS FOR THE WEB FOR THE WEB
Online, On Deadline and Beyond
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Sourcebox ExamplesSourcebox ExamplesHow we wrote the story Saturday, September 30, 2000 By Jack Hart, Managing Editor, The Oregonian To report "The Boy Behind the Mask," Tom Hallman Jr. spent hundreds of hours, over more than 10 months, poring over medical records, reading Lightner family journals, hanging out at the Lightner house, attending school with Sam, interviewing Sam's friends, and twice traveling across the country with the family. He saw virtually every important development with his own eyes and heard every key conversation with his own ears.As a result, relatively few scenes in "The Boy Behind the Mask" are reconstructed, and those are the result of careful interviews with all key participants. Every such scene contains attribution to the memories of the participants.No dialogue appears within quotation marks unless Hallman heard a conversation himself.
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Sourcebox ExamplesSourcebox Exampleswashingtonpost.com
In the Bible Belt, Acceptance Is Hard-Won By Anne HullWashington Post Staff WriterSunday, September 26, 2004; Page A01 With the Shackelford family's permission, The Washington Post spent hundreds of hours following Michael over the past year as he came to terms with being gay, a journey that paralleled Oklahoma's fight against same-sex marriage. The events and direct quotes in this story were witnessed by this reporter.
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Sourcebox ExamplesSourcebox ExamplesWICKED WINDJulia Keller, The Chicago TribuneDec. 5, 2004 To report this story, Tribune reporter Julia Keller interviewed the nine survivors of the Milestone collapse, and their friends, family members, neighbors and colleagues; and the friends, family members, neighbors and colleagues of the victims of the Milestone collapse; over a seven-month period, beginning a week after the tornado. She also interviewed townspeople of Utica, Ill.; public officials, including employees and elected officials of Utica and the Federal Emergency Management Agency; meteorologists at the National Weather Service's Chicago office; tornado experts such as Howard Bluestein of the University of Oklahoma; public safety officials, including Utica Fire Chief Dave Edgcomb, Utica Police Chief Joseph Bernardoni, LaSalle County Sheriff Tom Templeton and LaSalle County Coroner Jody Bernard. The reporter also used newspaper and television accounts of the tornado, and consulted historical books about Utica and the surrounding countryside.
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WRITING TO PURPOSE WRITING TO PURPOSE ANDAND PLATFORMPLATFORM
“Yep, text still matters.” ONA 2009 Effective writing is defined by:◦ The audience you are trying to reach◦ The message you are trying to deliver◦ The medium (platform) you are using
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SCAN and SKIP READING HABITSSCAN and SKIP READING HABITS
Less than 30 seconds on a home page Less than one minutes on an interior
page
SOURCE: HOA LORANGER Director, Nielsen Norman Group, San Diego Presented at ONA, October 2009
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BULLETS AND HIGHLIGHTSBULLETS AND HIGHLIGHTS
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EFFECTIVE WEB NEWS-EFFECTIVE WEB NEWS-WRITING…WRITING…
Form follows and serves function◦ What is core purpose of your report? Alert readers to breaking news? Update ongoing news? Answer immediate reader questions? Provide how-to information? Highlight significance or impact?
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KEY ELEMENTS OF NEWS-WRITINGKEY ELEMENTS OF NEWS-WRITINGFOR WEB READINGFOR WEB READING
PRIORITY EFFICIENCY CLARITY BREVITY TRANSPARENCY AUDIENCE-THINK (COMMON SENSE)
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SIMPLE, DIRECT SENTENCESSIMPLE, DIRECT SENTENCES
Make understanding easy and immediate◦ Context and significance are essential Where did this story come from? What does it mean?
◦ Information needs to be literal and direct Assumptions are dangerous Jargon, cumbersome titles, complex numbers, etc.,
create speed bumps
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PRIORITIZE & SYNTHESIZEPRIORITIZE & SYNTHESIZE
PRIORITY: Make essential information fast and immediate◦ Priority changes with audience, market and
publication
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MAD COW DISEASE
A public health storyBUT also
a business story
withMULTIPLE
STAKEHOLDERSand MULTIPLE STORY
POSSIBILITIES
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THE COVERAGE PLANTHE COVERAGE PLAN
What is the immediate news? What is the most important question to
answer for YOUR readers? What can you get from the wire, and
what should you get yourself? What’s the second-day story? What are the longer-range stories?
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THE REPORTING PLANTHE REPORTING PLAN
What do you NEED to know?How will you find out?
Who are your primary sources?How will you verify?Who are the stakeholders?What questions do they have?
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““Stakeholder Wheel”Stakeholder Wheel”Quick identification of everyone who is a
source and subjectAlso identifies secondary sources &
audiences for in-depth enterprise follow-ups
News is the HUB of the wheelPrimary stakeholders are the SPOKESSecondary stakeholders are the RIM
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STAKEHOLDERS
GOVERNMENTS (state, national, foreign)
LOBBYISTSBEEF RANCHERSMEAT PROCESSORSFOOD DISTRIBUTORSBUTCHERSGROCERY STORESRESTAURANTSCONSUMERHEALTH INSPECTORS
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BE REPETITIVEBE REPETITIVE
Don’t assume readers have followed every update◦ Consider a WHAT HAPPENED box to
anchor follow-ups Don’t assume readers know why a story
is significant◦ Consider a SO WHAT box In complex stories, highlight significance by
audience
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NEW AGE INVERTED PYRAMIDNEW AGE INVERTED PYRAMID
Prioritize and synthesize the news Summarize context, scope, significance
(nut graf) Return to the news, writing quickly in
prioritized order
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SUMMARY NUT LEDENews
ContextSignificance, Scope, Impact
Anchor quoteGeneral attribution
Transition to what’s to come
NEWS BIT
NEWS BIT
NEWS BIT
NEWS BIT
NEWS BIT
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BREAKING NEWS WITH BREAKING NEWS WITH BACKSTORYBACKSTORY
Structure that allows quick news/nut summary top, then tells rest of the story chronologically or by hierarchical topic
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SUMMARY NUT LEDENews
ContextSignificance, Scope, Impact
Anchor quoteGeneral attribution
Transition to what’s to come
START AT THEBEGINNING
CONTINUECHRONOLOGY
NEXT/ BUILDINGCHRONO OR TENSION
NEXT/ KEEP BUILDING
KICKER: BACK TO BEGINNING OR WHAT’SNEXT OR REINFORCE SIGNIFICANCE
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NEWS TOTEMNEWS TOTEM Inverted pyramid but with news sub-
items that can’t be easily prioritized in a descending hierarchy
Lede & nut graf: includes mention of all key sub-items
Then sub-items of news expanded on one by one
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EFFICIENCYEFFICIENCY
Write and organize material for the fastest understanding◦ Write for “snapshot” reading and scans◦ Highlight key news bits to be easily found◦ Organize your reporting, writing and
packaging in a way that helps you and readers
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KEEP PLATFORM IN MINDKEEP PLATFORM IN MIND Don’t automatically revert to traditional
narrative
Remember to highlight key points (Don’t make the reader hunt for information)
Delineate information and story
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LABELS and LINKSLABELS and LINKS
Fatalities and injuries: xxxx Property and crop damage: xxxx Civic disruption: xxxx The response: xxxx How the story developed: xxxx Where to get help: xxxx
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The i-PAD NEWS, The i-PAD NEWS, DECONSTRUCTEDDECONSTRUCTED
The announcement: xxx Functions: xxx Cost: xxx Competition: xxx Consumer reaction: xxx
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Imagine This Story RedoneImagine This Story Redone
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A Possible Web RewriteA Possible Web RewriteWHAT’s NEW: Another $204 million will be cut from the Missouri state
budget, Gov. Jay Nixon announced at a news conference at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
KEY TO THOSE CUTS:• The elimination of 650 full- and part-time jobs, mostly through layoffs.• Savings of $32 million by aligning Medicaid reimbursements with federal
rates.
CUTS MADE EARLIER THIS YEAR: $634 million including 1,700 full-time jobs.
WHY IT’S HAPPENING: State revenues are down 10 percent this
year, Nixon said. Missouri state statute requires a balanced budget.
WHAT’S NEXT: Nixon did not identify specific jobs to be cut. He said he hoped revenues would increase, but did not rule out additional cuts.
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HORIZONTAL NEWS TOTEMHORIZONTAL NEWS TOTEM
When sub-items in a story are of equal interest to difference audiences
Allows readers to get summary of story and then identify which sub-item they want to read first
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Know S-E-O SpeakKnow S-E-O Speak
Overt about location Meta-tagging of searchable words
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TransparencyTransparency
Be clear about source and credibility of information◦ If information is not verified, say so
Consider sourcing boxes◦ Don’t clutter copy with unnecessary or
awkward attribution
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Questions?