The journalist in me has been trained over the years to write new in a very specific way: the inverted triangle. The most important facts come first, and the less important information comes later to fill out the story. However, online, this writing style is too blocky and unattractive. To remedy this, there have been many proposed models for journalists when it comes to writing online. This model is the one with which I am the most familiar:
In this model, several "mini-stories" make up the greater piece of writing. This allows the writer to keep the readers' interest in an online environment.
It's almost like we have lesser attention spans when online compared to a physical newspaper or book. Which makes sense, considering there is so much more availability of news and information and the immediacy of such allows the reader to have ample choices when deciding on their primary news outlet.
ReplyDeleteI think online writing should not be spaced out. I think because of the fact that we are more likely to find something more interesting while we are in the middle of a task, online writers should condense their writing and get to the point. As Ben said, it is almost like we have lesser attention spans when online compared to an actual newspaper or book.
ReplyDeleteI think that if an online article is good enough, it should be its full length. I do not think online writing should be limited because of those who read it. If a story needs to be told in full, I don't think it should ever be limited. I don't think the writer should leave huge, block paragraphs, but there's not reason why it can't be a long article.
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