Writing Business News for the Web (Day 2)

WRITING BUSINESS NEWSWRITING BUSINESS NEWS FOR THE WEB FOR THE WEB

Online, On Deadline and Beyond

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.

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. 

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.

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

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

BULLETS AND HIGHLIGHTSBULLETS AND HIGHLIGHTS

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?

KEY ELEMENTS OF NEWS-WRITINGKEY ELEMENTS OF NEWS-WRITINGFOR WEB READINGFOR WEB READING

PRIORITY EFFICIENCY CLARITY BREVITY TRANSPARENCY AUDIENCE-THINK (COMMON SENSE)

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

PRIORITIZE & SYNTHESIZEPRIORITIZE & SYNTHESIZE

PRIORITY: Make essential information fast and immediate◦ Priority changes with audience, market and

publication

MAD COW DISEASE

A public health storyBUT also

a business story

withMULTIPLE

STAKEHOLDERSand MULTIPLE STORY

POSSIBILITIES

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?

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?

““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

STAKEHOLDERS

GOVERNMENTS (state, national, foreign)

LOBBYISTSBEEF RANCHERSMEAT PROCESSORSFOOD DISTRIBUTORSBUTCHERSGROCERY STORESRESTAURANTSCONSUMERHEALTH INSPECTORS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The i-PAD NEWS, The i-PAD NEWS, DECONSTRUCTEDDECONSTRUCTED

The announcement: xxx Functions: xxx Cost: xxx Competition: xxx Consumer reaction: xxx

Imagine This Story RedoneImagine This Story Redone

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.

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

Know S-E-O SpeakKnow S-E-O Speak

Overt about location Meta-tagging of searchable words

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

Questions?