News Reporting Mcom 201 Websites The Online medium

News Reporting Mcom 201 Websites

The Online medium • Immediacy • Stories and photos can be posted minutes after news breaks and be updated any number of times as the story progresses. • Space • There is virtually no limit to the amount of news that can be run. • Multimedia • In addition to text, photos and graphics the web offers the ability to transmit audio and video and create interactive databases, maps and graphics, allowing you to tell stories in a new and creative way. • Interactivity • Polls, quizzes, reader feedback, user-generated content and discussion forums can all enhance news coverage, engage readers and help the newspaper gauge interest in a particular issue. • Linking • By connecting readers to other parts of your site and to other sites you can add context and depth to your stories.

The newspaper website • Should have a clear and easy navigation system so that readers can get around easily. • Have contact information for the newsroom, including street address, phone numbers and emails. • Include information for advertisers such as rate card or contact information for the advertising department. • Should have a search function. • Have an easy to access archive. • Offer ways to readers to interact, such as response forms, polls, forums, chat rooms. • Make good use of photos, such as slide shows & photo galleries. • Take advantage of multimedia storytelling techniques. • Has to be routinely updated.

Mobile Journalism • Mobile technology puts the basic tools of multimedia journalism into every journalists – really every person’s pocket. • To be a true mobile journalist you don’t just need the right equipment, you need the right mindset. • You need to say to yourself, There's news here, I'm a reporter, I need to cover this Now! • Mobile journalism means not waiting to get the complete story, the verification from the police, the quote from the official source. You just need to go with whatever information you have. • You need to optimize your site for mobile devices, simplify your page so they are easy to read on 1 – 2 inch screen. • Mobile users are younger and more technology savy then readers of print. • They like to see videos, polls and breaking news on their mobiles.

Writing for the web • Reading text online is different from reading in print. Reading on a computer screen takes longer. Therefore people tend to scan webpages rather than read them word for word. • Readers primarily pay attention to headlines and subheads, boldfaced terms and images and often stop reading when faced with long blocks of uninterrupted texts. • Thus text is presented differently online than print. • Write Short • Use bulleted and numbered lists. • Position content where people are most likely to see it. • Frontload your content. • Write clear headlines and subheads. • Avoid or explain local references and give specific names. Do not be ambiguous.

Blogs • Adding blogs to your website can add personality and vitality to your newspaper. • Blogs can be used to report up-to-the-minute or personal observations about an issue. • The most engaging blogs come from outside contributors. • To add blogs to a website a contest can be launched to invite readers to submit a simple blog. • Reporters usually blog about the beat they are covering. • Editors have a blog sharing information about the newspaper.