Print vs. Web: Style & Structure
Transcript of Print vs. Web: Style & Structure
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Print vs. Web:
Style & Structure
COMM 206
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What is Style?
A collection of rules, regulations
and guidelines concerning spelling,
punctuation, grammar and format.
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Why have a style?
Consistency & Standardization
Why is that important? Easier comprehension, less confusion for
readers
Greater credibility (What else did they getwrong?)
Easier on the copy editors
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Schools of Style
Associated Press
Chicago Manual of Style
MLA AMA & APA
New York Times
Yahoo In-house style
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Examples of Style
Numbers
Three children, 11 grandchildren
Her 4-year-old daughter
8 feet tall
Ive told you a hundred times
84 percent
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Examples of Style
Punctuation & formatting
Periods and commas go inside quotation marks,
he said.
Who was known as the Great Emancipator?
Marx and Engels' most famous work, The
Communist Manifesto, was
NBCs Style Wars is based on the book. One space between sentences!
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Examples of Style
Names & Titles
President Barack Obama / the president of the
United States
it takes time, said Jason Kilar, Hulu's chief
executive, in an interview. The partners hired Mr.
Kilar, former general manager
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Examples of Style
Trademarks & Common Terms
Kleenex vs. tissue
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the local Walmart
Dumpster, trash bin
T-shirt
Email vs. e-mail
Food and Drug Administration, FDA
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Examples of Style
Obscenities, Vulgarities, etc.
The F-Word
How do you handle swears in a quote?
Cleaning up Quotes
Um, uh, ah
Misstatements
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Print Style vs. Web Style
According to Jakob Nielsen
Linear vs. non-linear
Passive vs. Active
Storytelling vs. Call to action
Anecdotal examples vs. comprehensive data (akalinks)
Sentences vs. fragments
Write what you know, link to the rest.
Jeff Jarvis
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/print-vs-online-content.htmlhttp://www.useit.com/alertbox/print-vs-online-content.htmlhttp://www.useit.com/alertbox/print-vs-online-content.htmlhttp://www.useit.com/alertbox/print-vs-online-content.html -
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Print Style vs. Web Style
Internet vs. internet; Web vs. web
Linking style
What gets linked?
Live link on email addresses?
Full URL in text?
Bold, italic
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Structure
Inverted pyramid
Most important info (Five Ws) at the top
Able to be cut from bottom without losing story
This applies online, too but to attention spans.
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Structure
What differences do you detect?
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Voice & Tone
Consistency isnt just about
getting the spelling right.
Voice and tone give the publication and thestory a personality.
Maintaining a consistent voice helps create a
relationship with the reader. Voice and tone also color how a reader assesses
information.
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Differences in Voice
Chicago Tribune vs. New York Times
Gawker vs. Salon
Deadline Hollywood vs. Perez Hilton Groupon vs. LivingSocial
http://gawker.com/http://www.salon.com/http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/http://perezhilton.com/http://www.groupon.com/deals/bath-and-body-works-chicagohttp://livingsocial.com/deals/23326-50-off-american-cuisinehttp://livingsocial.com/deals/23326-50-off-american-cuisinehttp://www.groupon.com/deals/bath-and-body-works-chicagohttp://www.groupon.com/deals/bath-and-body-works-chicagohttp://perezhilton.com/http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/http://www.salon.com/http://gawker.com/ -
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Groupons Voice
Groupons voice is carefully calibrated
Use humor and the absurd Narrative POV, third person whenever possible
Avoid clichs & crutches
Avoid negativity
https://docs.google.com/View?id=dmv9rbh_2g92x4scj&pli=1https://docs.google.com/View?id=dmv9rbh_2g92x4scj&pli=1