1. Overview
Discusses the concepts of chunking and distilling for online content
Examines how headlines, subheads and summaries can be effectively written
Discusses how online story organization and structures can aid scannability
Provides an overview of how online stories can be updated with new information

2. Writing for Online Media
The written word is still at the heart of online journalism.
Reading online is different, and content has to differ from print copy.
Basic tenets of journalistic writing still apply.
Online writing can be seen as a hybrid form of print and broadcast styles.

3. What’s Your Viewpoint?
Do you anticipate that writing online news stories will be easier or more difficult than writing traditional news stories (for newspapers, news broadcasts, etc.)?
Which type of news story do you prefer to read?

4. Scanning
Readers scan for individual words and points of interest rather than read at length.
Lower resolution of a computer screen means reading online takes longer and is more tiring.
Smartphones display only a small amount of text at a time.
Users are task-oriented and looking for something specific.

5. Chunking and Distilling
Breaking information into logical blocks
CMS
Distilling:
Refining the essence of a story into various shorter forms
Condensing a long story down to its essential points
Example from the New York Times

6. What’s Your Viewpoint? How do you read news stories online?
Do you just want to know the headlines of a breaking story? Or do you read stories in more depth?
Does it make a difference if you’re reading a traditional news site (CNN) or a blog (Huffington Post)? How?

7. Writing for the Online Reader
Writing headlines:
Headlines
Search engine optimization
Keywords
Subheads
Summaries (nut graph)
Writing stories:
Good organization
Short sentences and paragraphs
Section headings and bolding
Bullet points and lists
Adapting content
Writing for blogs

8. Examples of Headlines and Subheads— from MSNBC

9. Story Structures
Inverted pyramid
Chronological
Narrative
Thematic

10. Adapting Content from Other Media
Online journalists may have to take content from other media and adapt it for the online audience.
“Shovelware”
“There’s more to it than slapping it on the Web.”

11. Writing for Blogs
In blogs, journalists are able to use forms that are less formal and have less structure
But—still maintain a consistent style and follow rules of spelling and grammar

12. Updating Online Stories
Online readers expect updated information, especially in breaking stories.
Inverted pyramid story style is most often used.
Key is to integrate new information into the story smoothly.
Keep the most important info near the beginning.