Writing for the web 2013

Wri$ng for the Web January 2013 Ki-‐Min Sung, Digital News Training

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  Webified radio stories   Web-‐na@ve storytelling

Web wri$ng

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Online News Cycle

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  Who is my audience?

  What is most relevant?

  What is the best use of my @me?

Webify vs. Web-‐na$ve

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What doesn’t work…

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What doesn’t work…

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Visual Medium

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What works…

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What works…

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WEBIFYING RADIO SCRIPTS

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Webified Story

Compare ledes

Radio: Most people over 50 think they're likely to be healthier and more ac@ve in re@rement than their parents were. That's what people said in a poll conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Founda@on and the Harvard School of Public Health. But people may be wrong. Some experts worry that the genera@on now approaching re@rement may actually be less healthy in old age and that could have serious financial consequences for the na@on as a whole. NPR's Julie Rovner reports.

JULIE ROVNER: If you want to see what it means to live a long and ac@ve life, look no further than the rec room at the Greenspring Village Re@rement Community in Springfield, Virginia.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME)

ROVNER: This is the Wii bowling compe@@on for the Northern Virginia Senior Olympics. Up now, the 80 to 99 age group. Given these compe@tors' age, organizers are making a few accommoda@ons.

Compare ledes

Web: Most baby boomers say they're planning on an ac@ve and healthy re@rement, according to a new poll conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Founda@on and the Harvard School of Public Health. And, in a switch from earlier years, more than two-‐ thirds recognize the threat of long-‐term care expenses to their financial futures.

But some experts worry that when it comes to their health, boomers are s@ll woefully unprepared — or worse, in denial.

"The mismatch between how people think the next 10 to 15 years is going to go and what current re@rees experience is something that's very consistent," says Jeff Goldsmith, a health care futurist and author of The Long Baby Boom: An Op2mis2c Vision for a Graying Genera2on, a book about aging baby boomers. "There is no ques@on that one dis@nguishing feature of our genera@on is this extraordinary, almost gene@c op@mism. And the poll results look to me like a lot of that op@mism was drawn from a deep well of self-‐delusion."

Addi@onal Repor@ng

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Webifying

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1.  Get to the point, tell me why it’s important 2.  Grammar and spelling are important

3.  You can say it bejer than your source, summarize 4.  Details – this proves you know what you’re talking about

5.  Headlines majer A LOT

Five Differences: Web vs. Radio Wri$ng

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  Not all radio stories are meant to be web stories   Try wri@ng web text first – it can even make your broadcast story bejer

  If you’re not breaking news, what are you adding that will dis@nguish your story

  Go to where you audience is, don’t expect them to come to you

Looking Ahead

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WEB-‐NATIVE STORYTELLING 7 ways to signal webbiness

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Webbiness

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1. Create web-‐only stories

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2. Link out to relevant material

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3. Embed content

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4. Update stories

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4. Cura$on

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5. Make it easy (Scannable)

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6. Let the format fit the story

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7. Listen & respond to your audience

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CASE STUDY: KPLU

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Web Checklist (must hit at least 2)

1.  Is it @mely? (Are we ahead of others?)

2.  Are you adding something NEW to a known story? 3.  Does it have a unique angle or perspec@ve? 4.  Does it ask users to take ac@on or express an

opinion? 5.  Is it shareable? (Would YOU share it?) 6.  Does it celebrate an idea, person or place?

Radio stories treated differently online

Broadcast first Web days later

Web first Broadcast week later

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Web to Air

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What to ask…

1.  What’s next?

2.  Who are the key players? 3.  How did we get to this point? 4.  Why does this majer?

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Ques$ons

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1.  Rewrite a radio story for the web audience 2.  Write a web-‐na@ve story

Due: COB, Thursday, January 31

[email protected]

Assignment

Writing for the web 2013

Documents

Transcript of Writing for the web 2013