WRITING FOR THE WEB
Richard Kwadwo Nyarko
IF YOU WANT TO BECOME A GREAT WRITER,
YOU MUST TAKE THESE SERIOUSLY
TIPS TO HELP YOU LEARN HOW TO GET
S TA RT E D W R I T I N G F O R O N L I N E N E W S .
Keep It Short and Simple (KISS)
• People generally read slower from a computer or phone screen than on paper.
So, if newspaper stories need to be short, online stories need to be even shorter.
A general rule of thumb: Web content should have about half as many words as
its printed equivalent.
• So, keep your sentences short and limit yourself to one main idea per
paragraph. Short paragraphs look less imposing on a web page.
Break It Up
• If you do have an article that’s on the long side, don’t try to cram it onto one
web page. Break it up into several pages, using a clearly visible “continued on
next page” link at the bottom.
Focus on SEO
• Unlike newswriting, writing for the web has to take into consideration search
engine optimization (SEO). You put in the work to write a great article, and
you want people to see it online—this means following SEO best practices.
• Research and apply Google’s content and technical guidelines for inclusion on
the Google News page to ensure that your site’s articles pop up with other
reputable publications. Incorporate relevant keywords and link to other articles
within your site as well.
Write in the Active Voice
• Remember the subject-verb-object model from newswriting? Use it for web
writing as well. S-V-O sentences written in the active voice tend to be short, to
the point, and clear.
Use the Inverted Pyramid
• Summarize the main point of your article right at the start, just as you would in
the lede of a news story. Put the most important information in the top half of
your article, the less important details in the bottom half.
Highlight Key Words
• Use boldface text to highlight especially important words and phrases. But use
this sparingly; if you highlight too much text, nothing will stand out.
Use Bulleted and Numbered Lists
• This is another way of highlighting important information and breaking up
chunks of text that may be getting too long. Bulleted and numbered lists can
help you organize details in a story in a way that is easily digestible for readers.
Use Subheads
• This is key to the standard online journalism format. Subheads are another way
to highlight points and break up text into user-friendly sections. Keep your
subheads clear and informative so a reader can navigate the story or skim the
page.
Use Hyperlinks Wisely
• Use hyperlinks to bring readers extra, contextual information to your story.
Keep in mind that it's best to hyperlink internally (to another page within your
own site), and that if you can summarize the information succinctly without
linking elsewhere, do so.
BROADCAST NEWS, PRINT AND WEB
WRITING DIFFERENTIATED
• Broadcast news is different from print news, because it is intended to be
presented to a listening or viewing audience – and not to be read. Print remains
in its original form literally forever, waiting for the next reader to engage, but
broadcast news leaves the mouth of the newscasters, enters the airwaves, where
it may or may not be heard by someone – and then disappears into the
netherworld of spoken language. If ever there was an instance where up-to-the-
date information was the driver – it is in broadcast news.
SIMILARITIES OF BROADCAST AND
PRINT
• Broadcast and print journalism do share some similarities. For example, both of
them are better served to the public with the proper amount of research. And, in
both cases, the writer must be adept at creating compelling information with
proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
• But the broadcast journalist is usually up against some formidable distractions.
Most people listen to the news -- they don't sit and stare at the television or
radio. That means they are often involved in other activities – cooking dinner,
cleaning, driving, etc.
• In fact, there are so many other activities that people are engaged in while
listening to the news, it is usually designed to be background noise with no
illusions that you are going to leave an indelible mark on the listener's memory.
• Here, as in print news, there are hard hitting stories and soft news – or the
variety of human interest and narrative exampless. However, in this case, soft
news also refers to the weather, entertainment, and sports.
• There are a number of hard and fast rules about broadcast writing, including
the following:
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF HARD AND FAST
RULES ABOUT BROADCAST WRITING
• Writing should be short, simple, and declarative. In fact, a sentence with 20
words is going to be way too long.
• The writing should sound like a conversation, and have a flow to it you might
not recognize in print media. In other words, write broadcast news the way you
talk! Why? Because it is written for the ear not the eye.
• Whereas adjectives drive many other types of writing, they hardly have a place
in broadcast news writing. Instead – the action word, or verb does all the work.
• Write in an active voice. In other words, the subject of the story is doing the
action. This: Tom Jones wrecked his car. Not this: The car was wrecked by
Tom Jones.
• You cannot use abbreviations and symbols to write broadcast news – they can't
be "heard." This: street, avenue, boulevard. Not this: St., Ave., Blvd.
• Most direct quotes should be no more than a single line; the broadcaster is
always looking for a sound bite – not a mouthful.
• Use contractions when writing broadcast news. They sound more natural when
they are read aloud. This: don't, hasn't Not this: do not, has not
• The order of penning quotes from a person should be the quote first followed
by the person who said it. This: "Keep it simple stupid," Mary Smith said to the
reporter. Not this: Mary Smith said to the reporter, "Keep it simple, stupid."
• ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS read the story out loud to yourself to hear how
it sounds. (Now that's not something the print journalist does!)
• Broadcast news stories need to be briefer than print journalism. Newscasters
only have a few moments to relate the information, so succinctness is more
important than ever.
• Think about the writing in terms of what you would like to know as a listener.
This is a good rule of thumb for all types of journalism.
• Stick to one fact per sentence and keep your vocabulary fairly simple. Do not
use highbrow academic vocabulary in broadcast news.
• Tell the story in step-by-step fashion.
• Be original in your story-telling. That is sure to capture the listener's ear more
than the same old humdrum and mundane stories that play in and out every
day.
• Make sure stories are simple enough for the broadcaster to read. They often do
not have time to read the news story in advance – so the more conversational
you are, the more conversational the news reader will be able to be – and that is
the heart of broadcast news!
WRITING FOR THE WEB
• Consider how the following information might appear in print.
• Nebraska will draw up to 75,000 visitors this summer to their various attractions. Many will visit
the most famous sites, including Fort Robinson and Scottsbluff. Tourism is expected to generate
over a million dollars in revenue. Learn more about travel opportunities by visiting their state
homepage.
• Do you see the makings of the inverted pyramid? Now, let's rewrite it as it might appear online.
• Nebraska Tourism
• · 75,000 expected to visit Nebraska this summer
• · Fort Robinson State Park – 30,000 tourists
• · Scottsbluff National Monument – 20,000
• The inverted pyramid still has a place in journalistic writing for online
resources. Here again, some of the rules for broadcast writing overlap. For
example, the journalist should write in an active voice and use simple,
declarative sentences. The writer should be precise and use everyday words,
not stuffy language. However, you don't want to sound choppy in online print
any more than you would anywhere else. It is a good idea to read your writing
back to yourself to make sure it is appealing. Content is the focus of online
journalism – not self-promotion.
• Now, where in broadcast there is no use of abbreviations, or data and figures,
without accompanying visuals, the online journalist has great opportunity to
include them in the news story – particularly as there are so many word
processing and visual choices that can be easily added, subtracted, or changed.
In some ways, the online journalist almost needs to be an amateur artist, or at
least have facility with the breadth of word processing options that can enhance
a story – in light of the fact that readers of online journalism are drawn as much
to the style as to the content!
• Important things to remember about online journalism:
• Only 50 percent of it should be print.
• The print needs to be enhanced with bullet points, graphs, images, and similar
items.
• There should be frequent paragraph breaks.
• Use hyperlinks where appropriate or permitted.
• Eliminate unnecessary words.
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• checks revealed that the deceased had checked into the hotel late on Friday, September 2 with his driver, Sylvester Attah.
• Police found his body in a supine position in bed naked with his left arm hanging beside the bed on Sunday.
• An official complaint was lodged with the Police by the Manager of the said hotel in Kumasi.
• A careful examination of the body by health professionals found no marks of violence.
• The driver, however, left to lodge in a different hotel.
• The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Krachi East in the Oti Region, Francis Kofi Okesu, has been found dead in a
hotel room in Kumasi.
• Mr Kofi Okesu had not been seen since he checked into the hotel and efforts to reach him proved futile.
• Investigations established that Mr Attah could also not reach him on the scheduled day of return to Dambai on Sunday,
September 4.
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• “MNOs [Mobile Network Operators] shall divide the unregistered SIMs into five
batches for the purpose of implementing this punitive measure.”
• This new move is expected to take effect from Monday, September 5, 2022.
• The Authority further asked MNOs to liaise with the Electricity Company of Ghana,
Ghana Water and other service providers to ensure that their data-only SIMs are
registered duly.
• The Director-General also directed the MNOs to configure their systems to facilitate the
use of passports for non-resident Ghanaians until December 31, 2022.
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• According to a statement signed by the Authority’s Director-General, outgoing
calls and data services for a sequential batch of numbers will be blocked for 2
days weekly on a rotational basis.
• The National Communications Authority (NCA) has announced its decision to roll
out some punitive actions against users who have not registered their SIM Cards.
• “MNOs shall put disconnected SIM Cards in a holding category and current
subscribers of these SIM Cards shall be given six (6) months to register their SIM
cards, failing which these numbers will be churned by the MNOs.”
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END OF LECTURE
• KEEP READING
• KEEP WRITING
• KEEP PRACTISING
• KEEP BEING KNOWLEDGEABLE
