Page 82 - Convergent Journalism an Introduction Writing and Producing Across Media

WRITING FOR THE WEB

What information didn’t the reader know before but needs to know
now? The second part, the part that makes an accurate headline into
a great headline, requires that you capture what about the story is
interesting.
Sometimes, a story is obviously interesting to everyone. A credible
report alerting readers that the end of the world is 48 hours away sells
itself. Most of the time, though, it’s up to the reporters and editors
to discern what is both new and interesting about a story on changes
to the local sewer system. This is where your ability to understand a
story is put to the test. You are going places in this business if you can
regularly zero in on what is the most important part of a story and what
makes it interesting to the broadest group of readers.
The great irony about headline writing for the Web, or any writing
for the Web, is that, technically speaking, you have as much space as
you want. In reality, your goal is to keep your work as short and sweet
as is humanly possible.
A good headline on the Web is often, though not always, shorter
than the same headline would be for the printed page.
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Lead
Writing a lead is the second hardest part of writing any story, second
only to the headline. Luckily it’s a little easier on the Web because you
are generally expected to be more direct. There is less room to show
off your creative side.
The lead of a story should immediately reveal the most important
facts, and leave the reader asking questions that will make them read
on. This construction is similar to that of a good print story, but
there is a difference. Web users are “impatient and fickle” to quote
George Murray and Tania Costanzo’s examination of site usability
(see http://www.collectionscanada.ca/9/1/p1-260-e.html for the full
version). If they don’t find what they want right away, they’re likely
to go someplace else. Web readers are typically looking for specific
information, while print readers are often looking to be entertained.
A lead that in print may be indirect or slow to develop should be to
the point and without mystery on the Web.
The lead sets the theme for any story. Everything in the story should
follow logically from the theme set in the lead. The news is what is
both new and interesting. If something is new but not interesting or
interesting but not new, then you’ll either put it lower in the story or
omit it altogether.