New Media: web opportunities for news

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New Mediaweb opportunities for news

• Nora Paul
• Institute for New Media Studies
• June 25, 2004

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The differences
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Progress since 1995?

• What are newspaper not providing now?
• Language in various expressive forms / different
  attitudes
  
• Personalities / identities for reporters
• Background How I wrote the story
• Links to past stories
• Follow-up on stories
• Interaction reporter community / between
  users
  
• Personalization of news
• Supporting documents
• Deep local news

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Progress since 1995?

• How will the way we tell stories change?
• Mixed and multimedia
• Chronological presentation through linking
• New relationship between words and graphics
• Stories will be annotated, footnoted
• New story-telling software help follow threads
• Readers as contributors
• Linking will replace inverted pyramid

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Have we made progress?
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Hurdles to progress

• Dot.com bust
• No firm business model
• Production line model
• Lack of understanding about what online customers
  want / need

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Accessing the Internet
When
Where


Base Total market Mori Research Report
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Hours Actively Spent Online Each Week(Excluding
e-mail)
Mean Total Market 15.5 hrs.

Base Total market Mori Research Report
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Sites Used to Get Local InformationNews, things
to do, shopping
Base Total market

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How Did You Get to This Site?

Base Total market
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Using the Newspaper Website
Current Use
Future Use
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Base Total market
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Challenges to mainstream news

• New competition
• New customer expectations
• New changes to news production

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Without tradition,

• art

----news

• is a flock of sheep without
• a shepherd. Without innovation,
• it is a corpse.
• Winston Churchill

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The New Competition

• Out2
• Village Soup
• Daytona Beach Live
• BeniciaNews

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Ed SchlenkerPublisher, GetLocalNews

• In smaller bedroom communities, you have
• a monopoly on media one paper. You dont
• get aggressive journalism. The government
• is run by insiders, the newspaper publisher
• is an insider. People are hungering for
• independent information.

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New customer expectations

• New media is interactive. In contrast to old
  media where the order of presentation is fixed,
  the user can now interact with a media object. In
  the process of interaction the user can choose
  which elements to display or which paths to
  follow, thus generating a unique work. In this
  way the user becomes the co-author of the work.
• Lev Manovich The Language of New Media

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New changes to news production

• Digital asset management systems
• New relationships between analog and digital news
  streams
  

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Stages

• Evangelize
• Equip
• Empower
• Engage

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Simon Waldman Director of Digital Publishing,
Guardian Newspapers

• "The newspaper industry is no longer
• about the print product, but about a
• tapestry of news products. ... The
  smarter newspapers will see the print, online and
  wireless editions as a whole and manage
  accordingly. It's clear that the whole will have
  the value."

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The hard parts

• Equipping
• Empowering

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The opportunity

• To be ENGAGING
• Involve the community
• Profile real people
• Provide an experience
• Do things online you cant offline
• Create long-shelf life content

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John Battelle, Industry Standard

• You have to stop thinking about being in
• the business of print and think about being
• in the business of community The
• Internet forces you to go back to square
• one and say, How am I bringing together
• a community?'

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Involve the community

• Waterfront Renaissance (Everett Herald,WA)
• Fix Your Commute (Everett Herald, WA)
• Ax and Tax (Seattle Times)
• 20Below (Maine Today)

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Profile real people

• Interactive Obits (Spokesman Review)
• First Coast Community (FLTimes-Union)
• I Was So Cute Back Then (JournalNow)

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Create stories that let people experience /
explore

• Baggage Screener (MSNBC)
• Mill City Museum (Star Tribune)
• Touch Screen Voting (Sun-Sentinel)
• Invention for 900 Hands (NY Times)
• September 12th

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Experiment with new forms

• Drogas (El Mundo)
• Gene Safari (BBC)
• Big Plane, Small Planet (CSM)

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Do online what you cant offline

• A Day in the Life of One of Our Schools
  (Rochester Democrat-Chronicle)
  
• ONA Training Module
• Voices for the Land (Star Tribune online)
• Language Lessons (Fargo Forum)
• Collision Course (Cincinnati.com)
• Against Their Will (JournalNow)

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Create long shelf-life content

• Webtowns (Seattle P-I)
• Transportation (Seattle P-I)
• Hurricane Center (Tampa Bay Online)
• Kansas Legislature (Lawrence Journal-World)
• Toxic Treats (Orange Co. Register)

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Good ideas from St. Cloud

• Readers as reporters Gas Prices
• Give them a watercooler Comments
• Organize ongoing stories MN Troops
• Expand the newshole Photo Gallery

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Michael Zimbalist, exec. director of the Online
Publishers Association

• People are forming strong emotional bonds
• to online content the way they do to print
• content. But as for finding the right model
• to exploit that bond, the jury is very much
• still out.
• Folio, Nov.1, 2003 -foliomag.com/ar/marketing_maki
  ng_web_sites/index.htm
  

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Elements of digital storytelling

• www.inms.umn.edu/elements
• MEDIA
• ACTION
• RELATIONSHIP
• CONTEXT
• COMMUNICATION

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Element 1 media

• Single Medium AZ Daily Sun
• Multiple Media Betrayal in the Ranks
• Multimedia Safari Unclogging a Drain
• Questions
• How do people process multimedia versus single
  media packages?
  
• Does multimedia impede or enhance understanding /
  retention?

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Element 2 action

• Static / Passive Strom Thurmond Dies
• Static / Active Mill City Museum
• Dynamic / Passive Strom Thurmond Dies Homeless
  not Hopeless
  
• Dynamic / Active Game Museum
• Questions
• Whats better, letting people select or just
  delivering the content?
  
• Is dynamic or static content more compelling?

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Element 3 relationship

• Linear Turkey Fuel
• Non-linear U Street in Focus
• Questions
• What form results in more comprehensive reading /
  use?
  
• Does the non-linear presentations selection
  process increase engagement?

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Element 3 relationship

• Manipulation
• DIY Network Room Planner
• Waterfront Renaissance
• Questions
• Does manipulation improve engagement?
• Does experiencing content help with
  understanding the issues?
  

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Element 3 relationship

• Calculation
• Find your Inner Republican
• Ax and Tax
• Questions
• Does this sort of input and calculation tracking
  engage users?
  
• Does this sort of interaction help people better
  understand the issues?

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Element 3 relationship

• Customization
• Crimetracker
• Questions
• Does customizing make people see only a small
  part of the whole story?
  
• Does it help make the news more personal?

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Element 4 context

• Embedded Slate
• Sidebar Lightrail Debuts
• Questions
• Which method gets peoples attention?
• Which method results in greater linking to
  related materials?

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Element 5 communication

• With reporters Seattle Times
• Chat MSNBC
• Between readers St. Cloud Times
• Questions
• How do people want to be communicated with?
• Who do people want to communicate with?
• What is the main objective of the communication?

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Research

• Current levels of use
• Need baseline measures
• Audience effects research
• Which combinations of elements work best
• Recommendations to practitioners
• When to deploy effort with new story forms

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current practices study 1

• Homepage Finding Overview
• Relationship Less than 1/3 utilized open
  content.
  
• Action 90 of homepage contents were static.
• Media Over half of the stories were single
  medium (print only).
  

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current practices study 2

• Special Project Package Finding Overview
• Relationship Only 1/4 utilized open content.
• Action Most static or dynamic / active.
• Media Virtually all were multiple media.

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effects testing

• Testing for flow between different styles of
  news infographics
  

Zoom graphic Dynamic / active Non-linear Mult
iple media

3D graphic Dynamic / active Manipulable Multi
ple media

Baseball card Static / passive Multiple media

Animated graphic Dynamic / passive to Dynamic /
active, Non-linear, Multimedia

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results?
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We need to know more

• New media has its own expressive properties
  encyclopedic, spatial, procedural, participatory.
  Janet Murray
  
• The conventions of new media are still being
  formed.
  
• There is still much to be learned.

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A vision of tomorrows news
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Online Journalism Education - LA

• 70 new-media department editors in Latin
  American papers say their greatest need in terms
  of training is creation of multimedia content
  second biggest writing for the web (17 percent).
• 53 of online journalists in Latin America have
  no academic background in online journalism.
  
• 61 of new-media academic programs are taught as
  courses or seminars. More than half of the
  journalists asked say that the quality of such
  programs is not good.  
• Only 43 of the media surveyed offer in-office
  digital journalism training for their
  journalists.
  
• From Guillermo Francos
• The State of Online Journalism in Latin America

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Implications for journalism education

• Writing across media
• Editing issues online
• The backpack journalist

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Online Writing

• Presentation by Elizabeth Osder to the American
  Copy Editors Society.

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Writing Editing for Online

• Elizabeth A. OsderVisiting Professor USC
  AnnenbergDeputy Editor, Online Journalism
  Reviewosder_at_usc.edu

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What Is Writing for Online?

• Its the creation of copy generated from
• Broadcast scripts
• Newspaper and wire stories
• Original to the medium
• Digitally distributed to
• Websites
• Newsletters and dispatches
• Wireless and other devices

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Editing for Online Readers

• Provide value to your readers, viewers,
  interactors
  
• Limited time
• Infinite options
• Immediacy
• The price of a click
• Download times

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Writing for Online News

• Language is critical
• Reductive
• Literal
• To the point
• Structure and format matter
• Contextual and annotative
• Navigation is the narrative

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Scan-able Text

• Highlighted keywords
• Hypertext links
• Typeface variations
• Meaningful sub-headings
• Bulleted lists

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Scan-able Text

• One idea per paragraph
• Inverted pyramid style works
• Half the word count (or less) than conventional
  writing
  

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Elements of the Web Story
Full Story
Brief
Promo
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Elements of the Promo

• Homepage promotional copy
• Should
• Explains the story
• Work for the reader
• Work for search engines
• Contains
• Headline 30-40 characters
• Deck 20-25 words
• Links

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Promos
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Promos
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Headlines

• Fewer than six to 10 words
• Use strong verbs
• Put the most important word first
• Avoid articles at the start of a headline
• Use question headlines if the subject is
  interesting enough to entice readers
  

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Online Decks

• Entice readers to read more
• 1-2 sentences long
• Often repeats the lead
• Tips
• Write a clear summary
• Avoid writing summaries that repeat the headline
• Address the reader when appropriate

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Deck is the Lead
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Deck is Not the Lead
Time Stamp
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Online Briefs

• Similar to blurbs - often repeat lead of the
  story
  
• Can be a few paragraphs long
• Can stand alone - in place of a story
• Offers the reader a choice of layers.
• Some readers want to read only the headlines,
  others want a brief summary and others want the
  complete story.
  

Full Story
Brief
Brief
Promo
Proo
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Envisioning the Web Story

• Elements
• Headline
• Summary
• Main story (scroll or chunks)
• Breaking news (brief or update)
• Hyperlinks
• Timelines
• Full text docs (speeches, etc)
• Multimedia (video, audio)
• Searchable databases
• Interactive elements (polls, games, quiz, email
  links)
  

Storyboards
Main Story
Interactive
Timeline
Bios
Documents
Video
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Copyediting Online Whats the Same?
Whats Different?

• Nora Paul
• Director, Institute for New Media Studies
• University of Minnesota
• npaul_at_umn.edu

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BUT.
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differences exist.

• Some rules are different
• Some AP and print style rules dont work online.
  Sentences and paragraphs have to be kept a lot
  shorter. If the writers dont do it, the copy
  editors have to step in.
• There are some style variances from print to
  account for worldwide readership (we have to be
  sensitive to datelines, time zones, etc.)
  
• Headlines have different rules online than in
  print
  
• Style is different
• Our standards for grammar, punctuation and syntax
  are generally the same but the process is not.
  We do believe in creating a different style and
  have been working on delineating what that should
  be.
• Headlines have different rules online than in
  print
  

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differences exist

• Process is different
• Style is the same, but the editing process is
  not..
  
• On the print side, a story gets
  written, looked at by a desk editor, then worked
  over in minute detail by a copy editor. Then it
  is checked by the managing copy editor, and gets
  final approval by the chief copy editor. Once
  laid out, it gets printed off and re-checked on
  hard copy by another copy editor for errors in
  headlines, breakers, etc.
• Online there is no formal copy editing
  staff whatsoever. In most cases an assignment /
  site editor will look at the story quickly either
  just before it is posted or, if it is a
  quick-breaking piece, immediately after it goes
  up online. But in some cases where nobody is
  available to check the copy, the person writing
  the story posts it directly once it is ready to
  go. If there is nobody available to look at it
  (due to chronic under-staffing), nobody in
  editorial buy the writer sees the story before it
  is posted.

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differences exist

• Experience level is different
• We use the same copyediting guidelines, but we
  arent nearly as familiar with them.
  
• Volume is different
• Since the online site has more copy and
  additional resources, there is more copy editing
  to do with online material
  

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• Well

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• Yes
• You bet it does!
• Yes, and most of the copy editors are veteran
  newspaper copy editors.
  
• Editors in the online department look at it for
  copyediting.
  
• Everything on the site has to clear with the slot
  or the news service copy editors.
  
• At the latimes.com and OJR, two places Ive
  worked, we copyedited original content as
  rigorously as print copy.
  
• We even do edits on our weblogs.

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• Sometimes
• Special projects undergo a copy editing procedure
  but breaking news does not
  this about breaking news not getting copyediting
  attention and material produced by non-news
  partners does not get copyedited.
• Weve got two part-time copyeditors, if they are
  available and someone remembers to ask them, then
  yes, it goes through formal copyediting.
  
• Sometimes, though not always. There is no copy
  desk, per se, but the team is loaded with veteran
  news people, many of whom have been copy editors
  and serve in that capacity on demand.
• Sort of
• Our copy editing is not as extensive as on the
  print side maybe one or two editors look at it
  before going live.
  

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• Not yet but going to
• Several people mentioned that they are planning
  to add copyedit / rewrite desks for the web for
  breaking news.
  
• No
• Not yet, I would like to add that to the mix, but
  it is currently read by an online producer before
  going onto the site.
  
• We have no formal copy editing staff. Assignment
  editors also write some of their own copy, as
  well as assigning things to writers and
  freelancers, and they are responsible for all
  copy editing and story posting duties. Due to
  story volume and workload, there is usually not
  time available to copy-edit stories so they
  sometimes get posted by the person who wrote them
  

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• Interesting comment
• We find that copy desk experience is among
  the most important in finding well-qualified
  online producers. We want the benefits of copy
  editing built-into a small operation that doesnt
  allow a dedicated desk.

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It depends
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on

• Style issues
• Sometimes cut them for length or rewrite to
  emphasize breaking news.
  
• Headlines are edited and summary grafs are
  sometimes rewritten from the lead paragraph of
  print stories.
  
• Typos / errors
• I often notice things that need to be fixed and,
  obviously, correct them.
  
• Time constraints
• Breaking news goes right up without any online
  editing.
  
• Additional material
• We add enhancements like related web sties,
  stock numbers, etc. if we have time.
  
• While the text was shovelware from the print
  side - we have to add promos heads and decks
  on index pages to link to top stories
  

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Interesting comment

• Review is more accurate than edit. Although
  our online producers have reporting, copy editing
  and assignment-editing experience, breaking news
  from the print newsroom should generally be
  changed/corrected by originating reporter/editor
  if an online review raises serious questions. At
  the same time, producers who sometimes need to
  write breaking news themselves must go through a
  review process by the best option available a
  newsroom editor when available, or another
  experienced online producer.

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Biggest copyediting issues for online

• Lack of time and staff
• Scheduling Most original copy is made during the
  day, but copy editors work at night. Trying to
  staff around the clock to match the continuous
  online news cycle is a challenge.
• Deadline pressure is double prints
• Writing promos
• Forgetting the adage Get it first, but first
  get it right.

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Biggest copyediting issue for online
Communication with print side editors

• They dont understand how online works
• Getting them to flag final version for online
• Changes made to print text but online is not
  told
  
• Culture clash online is urgent, copyeditors are
  methodical
  
• Set in their workflow, not available to online
• Getting print editors to give it to online now,
  not just when they get a chance
  

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What the next generation needs to know

• How to work like a wire service
• How to work online and in print
• How to balance speed and accuracy
• How online writing differs from print and
  broadcast
  
• How to edit different Web presentation forms

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PrintOnlineWhatever

• If youre good, you have a
• bright future ahead of you.
• The world will always need
• copy editors.

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Great resources for online journalism classes

• UC-Berkeleys Multimedia Reporting and
  Convergence http//journalism.berkeley.edu/multim
  edia/
  
• Online Journalism Course Syllabi
  http//ojr.org/ojr/education/1081489206.php
  
• Donica Mensings assignments http//www.jour.unr.
  edu/donica/453/index.html
  

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