THE MULTIMEDIA MINDSET The way news is gathered and delivered is evolving just as rapidly as audience expectations, technological changes and job descriptions for journalists. In this chapter, we take a took at what it means to be a journalist today and why you '11 need to quickly develop your own multimedia mindset. WTMJ-TV reporter Brandon Rook's srory for the day first surfaced on Facebook. Tn the aftermath of a shooting on the north side of Milwaukee, one of the victims posted his status with a photo of his bullet-ridden car. "That thing blew up on social. It had hundreds of shares and comments," Rook said. "We have a web/social team that's always looking for things like this and they said, 'We want you to find this guy." Rook started by sending a message to the source on Facebook, being sensitive to the situation. "You have a job to do, but you have to be smart with your words, so I always identify myself as a reporter. I wrote, 'We came across your post and I'm sotry this happened to you; would you be willing to talk about it?'" Rook also leached out to the Milwaukee police to see if they could confirm the details of the Facebook post, and in 15 minutes he had information on multiple cars shot up and one home targeted. Just as important, he had a stteet name. Using his smartphone to continue corresponding with the man on Facebook, he and a photographer drove to the street and started looking for broken glass, bullet holes and people to interview. He found one mothet at home, but she was afraid to talk on camera, so Rook leit het his card and asked het to call him when she was ready. Eventually, he found the house that had been hit by the bullets and the woman inside agreed To an interview. "We find out this is the second time this house has been targeted, confirm that with police and now we have a story," Rook said. "Now we're talking to a mother of four whose home has been rargered twice." Rook and the photographer did the reporting, the editing and went live from the field at 6 o'clock that night. As for the man on Facebook? He never agreed to talk or authorize the use of the pictures from his post, so Rook's station didn't use them. Though listening to the audience on social media sparked the story and technology facilitated irs production, Advancing the Story it was good old-fashioned erhical and merhodical journalism that ultimately put Rook's story on the air. "You have to knock on doors, be a human, be sincere," Rook said. "A lot of people are skeptical about media. You have to build their trust to allow you to tell their stories." Today's journalist has to incorporate more sources, newsgatheting tools and distribution options than ever before, bur the journalism fundamentals remain unchanged and essential. MULTIMEDIA BASICS It's hard to spend any time studying journalism without reading or hearing the following terms—multimedia, convergence, cross-platform, or multiphtform journalism. Continual advances in communications technology have forced journalists to come up with a new language to describe their storytelling. For the most part, this text uses the terms interchangeably ro describe the practice of communicating complementary information on more than one media platform. A New Approach If a television reportet and phorographer go out to cover a high school football game, they might begin their coverage using Twiner to report on the game as it plays out and post still photos or video clips to the website and mobile app. They'll probably shoot far more video of the game and gather a great deal more information than they'll need to tell theit story on the eleven o'clock news, so they may write a new version for rhe morning show and post online some of the unused video and key statistics from the game. That's multimedia journalism. They would be using more than one media platform—television, social media, mobile and the web—and the information they broadcast would be complemented by the unique, additional information posred online, through the mobile app ot in various social media. "The most compelling way to tell stoties in the digital age," says frank Mungeam, vice presidenr for digital content at Tegna, "is an all-day story experience that starts with social engagement, that gives updates on digital, TABLE 1.1 ■ Average Time Spent per Day with Major Media by U.S. Adults, 2017 hrs:mins 2017 Digital 5:50 —Desktop/laptop** 2:08 — Mob'letnonvcice] 3:14 —Other connected devices 0:28 TV* 4:04 Radio* 1:26 Print* 0:25 Other* 0:21 Total 12:07 Note-, ages 18+; time spent with each medium includes all time spent with that medium, regardless of multitasking; for exam pLe. 1 hour of multitasking on desktop/laptop while watching TV is counted as! hourforTVand 1 hour for desktop/Laptop; *excLudes digital; ""includes a LI internet activities on desktop and laptop computers. Source: "Average Time Spent per Day with Major Media by US Adults," eMarketer, September 1, 2017, http://www.emarketer.com/Chart/ Average-Time-Spent-per-Day-with-Major-Media-by-US-Adults-2017-hrsmins/206481. Chapter 1 • The Multimedia Mindset context on broadcast, and. then offers extras as a digital follow up, and then continues with a social conversation—-and then you repeat that cycle."1 The fact that multimedia allows you to communicate more information in new and different ways gets many journalists jazzed about the concept, whether they've been in the business for years or are just starting out. KNOW AND TELL A NEW TYPE OF JOURNALIST .Sfj.jrt;?: Photc courtesy of Margaret Ann Mot yjn. Margatet Ann Morgan got a job tight out of school, working as an MM J—a multimedia journalist—for the Raycom-owned station WDAM in Hattiesaurg, Mississippi. Her reporting day begins before she even gets out of bed. "As my alarm blares to wake me up before I'm ready each morning, my other hand is reaching for my cell phone to check Twitter," Morgan said. "It's the way I check what happened around the world while I was asleep and what the big stories of the day will be, as welt as what my viewers are tweeting about." Morgan says that by the time she walks into the morning news meeting, she's well versed on what's happening in her viewing area. She'satready exchanged e-mails with local law enforcement, made calls to city officials and looked for what's trending locally in social media. "After the morning meeting, I hit the ground running from one story to another. Working alone as an MM J can be exhausting at times, but it makes the final oroduct much easier to create when there is no one in the line of communication between you and your subject From tiring up the story to setting up the equipment, conducting the interview and editing the package, everything is done on my own, which also moans I am solety responsible for the end product." Throughout the day, Morgan shares what's she's learning about her stones via social media. I make posts on Doth Facebook ard Twitter, but it is important to keep in mind the d tfer-ent audiences on each. Twitter is very helpful in giving immediate updates, especially during breaking news. It is also a great tool w interact with followers, as well as gain credibility among officials who also have a presence on Twitter. Facebook, on the other hand, is a way to expand on issues, as well as include viewers in the conversation." Of course, Morgan ts a multimedia reporter, so the day doesn't end when her first package hits the air. "I also have to break that 90-serond package into a 30-second V/0-S01. one version for the 1U0U show and another that advances the story for the morning show. After that. I put the script into AP form for the web and attach the video along with it." Morgan says being an MMJ is very demanding, but it's the reality for a lot of reporters and one she's learned to appreciate. "There are many benef.ts to v,torking atone in a fast-paced newsroom. You learn how to do it all, from shooting tc editing to writing. MMJs are, in my opinion, the greatest asset to a newsroom. You can do the job of three or four different people, but it only takes one of you! These positions are in high demand, but it should also be a position that is embraced by the journalist, simply for the freedom and leadership it gives you in the newsroom and in the field." U Advancing the Story Chapter 1 • The Multimedia Mindset 5 Audience First Most news consumers aren't content to get their news and information in one form— the same individual may routinely use mobile, social media, television, text and online sources to get information from newscasts, podcasts, articles and tweets. In fact, according to research, people spend more than 12 hours a day with some form of media, and much of that time is spent multitasking.2 Though it's always been important tor journalists to keep the audience top of mind, it's now even more critical because the platform used to deliver the news will affect what the audience gets out of it. As you begin to work on any story, you should be asking yourself what the best way is to deliver the information, what questions the audience will have and what answers you can provide. Let's say there is major flooding in your community. Some may first learn about the rising waters from social media, but many won't stop there. Some people will tune in to a television newscast to see the impact of the flooding, how some of the worst-hit neighborhoods are being affected, as well as the weather forecast for the next few hours. At the same time, the audience may be sharing their own pictures of flooded-out roads and going online to read and add their own comments to a live blog detailing which shelters take pets and which don't. The audience for the next day's paper will likely be looking for the big picture—did emergency preparation pay off, or how did this latest flooding compare with previous floods? Multimedia journalists will be thinking about all of these possibilities as they work on their individual stories; they will look for opportunities to use the tools of multimedia to access many different sources and provide many different pieces of information to several different audiences on multiple media platforms. MEDIA ON DEMAND In addition to having access to multiple news delivery systems, we obviously live in an "on-demand" world. News consumets expect to get information when and how they want it—not on a timetable set by a television station or a newspaper operation. For a journalist, that means getting into a 24/7 mindset. Instead of focusing all of your attention on one story that will air at 6 p.m. or appear above the fold in tomorrow's newspaper, you need to be thinking about the audience that's out there right now, hungry for information as soon as it's been verified and vetted. It's quite likely that you will work, or perhaps you already work, for a newsroom that breaks stories in social media or sends text alerts directly to people using mobile devices first, and then worries about iradition.il content delivery platforms such as television or print. In the Hooding example menrioned earlier, the multimedia journalist may first focus on getting the latest information out on Twirter, Facebook or Instagram before writing a brief text version of the story to be posted GO ONLINE Module 1: Log your daily media use and track your multimedia multitasking. online or for the mobile app along with jjSBtk KHOU11 News Houston® ©khou ■ 4h ||§|g|y Today, power was being cut oft to homes with water in them in a W. Houston raw video. All of that would happen ^■F mandatory evacuation zone bitiy/2x2)4xL #Harvey ' before he or she begins putting together a more traditional TV story for the 5 p.m. news. The Multimedia Industry More and more communicarions companies are taking a "reach the consumers wherever they are" approach to providing information and content. ESPN, for example, is a multimedia powerhouse. From its cable TV channels to its text magazine to its mobile apps and website, the company has become synonymous with sports information by reaching out to sports consumers wherever they can be found. The Food Network is another big multimedia player. What started out as a cable TV channel expanded to the web, began publishing a successful printed magazine, hosts a recipe aggregator site called Food.com and has more than 24 million fans on Facebook. Local news organizations are also taking advantage of multimedia, of course. At Fox Carolina News in Greenville, South Carolina, news director Kelly Boan says they've been purposefully growing their web and social teams over the years. "The more we add on, the more we are able to serve people and bring them better journalism and news about what's going on in their community," Boan said. "We can't cram it all on air, but we can put everything we have online." Digital platforms have given stations the ability to do longer format stories. Documents obtained through a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request can easily be put online. "That's relatively simple, but vety valuable." Part of the push toward multiple platforms is also based on a survival instinct, according to Letitia Walker, news director at KATC-TV in Lafayette, Louisiana. ''Back in 2006, I would have never predicted we would be telying so heavily on social media, but now 1 don't see us in a traditional 5, 6, 10 o'clock newscast culture in the future," Walker said. "How do we get the younger millennial viewers? We get to them in a fashion that we don't do now, and that forces me to do things like signing up for Snapchac to try to understand what's coming next." Multimedia Journalists Increasingly, strong news organizations are looking to hire journalists who fully understand this need to give consumers more ways to access information and more control over how they do it. KATC is now creating blended positions that require more multimedia skills. When fLooding from Hurricane Harvey devastated the Houston area, KHOU and many other news outlets relied on social media to get information out immediately, well before the first stories appeared on the air or on the station's website. Source: Twitter/ OKHQU. Advancing the Story Chapter 1 • The Multimedia Mindset 7 "My (assignment) desk person is in charge of posting to social and posting to the web," Walker said. "We have three assignment editors on the desk at a time, and all three have to have all those skills." Updating a story continuously on Twitter obviously requires a much different type of writing than the web story at the end of the day. So news managers like Walker want journalists who understand how the gathering and presentation of content change as the distribution of that content differs. Their writers have to know how to change their styles, depending on whether they are writing the tweet or the web version of the story. In other words, as the medium changes, the best journalists will be versatile enough to know how the message should change as well. KNOW AND TELL THE PROCESS OF NEWS Technology has changed everything about the news business, from the way it's delivered to the way journalists do their jobs. Television reporters used to spend most of the day producing a complete package tor the main newscast, with a.live shot or two thrown in along the way. Not anymore. "In today's world of journalism, you simply have to make 30 hours fit into a 24-hour day." says WIBW-TV anchor Melissa Brunner. "We still need to put a quality product on the air, but you also must incorporate social media and your website in general into your daily routine," I he station's management expects everyone on the news staff to share information on stories all day long. The television story is no longer the ultimate goal; it's part of a process of reporting and shoring that begins well before :he newscast. Brunner says that philosophy has changed everything in the newsroom. "When breaking news happens, you can't simply send a crew cut the door and forget it," she says. "You must get the crew out the door, tweet/ Facebook the information, send a: text alert, send a desktop alert and get a story on the website," Constant sharing carries some risks, of course. Information the station puts out early on may turn out to be wrong and that puts the responsibility on everyone who works there to acknowledge it when new information changes what's been previously reported. Source: Photo courtesy pf the authors. TECHNOLOGY CHANGES CONTENT Media are evolving so quickly rhat within a few years, we'll probably be delivering news and information in ways we haven't even imagined yet. The word podcastwasnt in anyone's vocabulary until 2004; within a year, thousands of podcasts were available online. And who could have imagined how quickly Twitter would take off as a newsgathering and dissemination tool following its use in the 2009 Iranian election protests? Live reporting now rakes nothing more than a smartphone and a Facebook account, and there are dozens of free tools available allowing journalists to cteate interactive graphics with no knowledge of coding. The concept of considering the best way to present content based on the delivery method goes far beyond the obvious differences, such as the fact that television news uses sound and video and a newspaper does nor. It means that journalists must think about how they can provide useful information to people in all sorts of different ways. The presentation will obviously be different for a tweet, a podcast, a newspaper article or an online story and so will the content, because consumers using those media want differenr things. Your Twitter followers may want nothing more than the story's headline and a photo, a radio listener might want a brief summary with sound bites, a newspaper reader might want more details and an online news consumer might want to see the documents that underpin the story. Journalists have to know what elements they need to collect so they can effectively present news and information to consumers in all these media. In addition, the best multimedia journalists will stay-on top of changes in communications technology. For example, the increase in the number of people with highspeed internet connections is at least partly responsible for changing the thinking about the use of video and elaborate graphics online. Before high-speed connections were common, many news organizations hesitated to post multiple video clips and to create high-level, interactive graphics because the download time for people on dial-up connections made those features nearly impossible to use. Even more recently, the explosion in the number of people with mobile communication devices—from smartphones to tablets— has fundamentally changed the way journalists handle breaking news. Now, those looking ahead to the futute ate wondering how audiences may be able to actually experience the news through the use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). Fot example, the New York Times used VR to tell the stories of three of the 30 million children who have been forced from their homes by war. According to the description posted to YouTube, "The Displaced" is an example of "a btand new kind of video that gives you a sense of depth in every direction so you feel like you're actually there."3 These are just a couple of examples of the ways in which the development and increasing use of new technologies are having an impact on the way journalists do their jobs. We talk more about this phenomenon throughout the text. 89° Good Journalism Matters Journalism is ripe with opportunity for storytellers, and learning how to take a multimedia apptoach to stories gives you the potential to reach a more diverse group of people with more news and information. r ' I WKRG-TV in Mobile, Alabama, was one of the first local stations to develop a mobile app. The news managers understood that technology is changing news deLivery systems, too. As more people stay informed through mobile devices, journalists like those atWKRG must adjust to more immediate deadlines and develop new storytelling forms. Source: WKRG. News 5 in Mobile, Alabama. Screen grab from mobile app [accessed September, 2017). 8 Advancing the Story Chapter 1 • The Multimedia Mindset The technology necessary to experience virtual reality can now be found in most people's pockets. That's paved the wayfcrthe NewYorkTimes and ether news organizations to bring viewers to locations or to understand issues they may never experience in person-Source; nytimes.com Captjred September 3, 2017 https://www .nyt imes.com/video/ magazine/lOODOOOO 500580 undisplaced.html? mcLjbz=3. TIMES VIDEO The K.pl»ced •;...'> .,1. r.Jiin- ;»..;!. .... .y Radio Print Newspapers tí O -o 2016 Source: "Americans' online news use is closing in on TV news use," Pew Research Center, http://www .pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/09/07/americans-online-news-use-vs-tv-news-use/laccessed Decemher 5, 20171. 14 Advancing the Story Chapter 1 • The Multimedia Mindset 15 Most likely when you turn to the web for information, you go in search of something specific. You may choose to get news online because you don't want to wait for the nightly news or for rhe next day's paper. According to Pew, online news is valued most for headlines and convenience, not detailed, in-depth reporting. This "getting the information you want when you want it" is one of three key strengths of online journalism. On Demand With traditional broadcast and print media, the news consumer is essentially at the mercy of those who select what information to air or publish and when. In the online world, if the informarion is posted somewhere, the savvy internet user can usually find it. Even if the information will be included in a broadcast and in the newspaper eventually, if it's also online, the user does not have to wait to access the information on someone else's rimerable. CBS News, for example, streams stories from its nightly newscast on the web to gain viewers who can't or don't want to watch the broadcast during the time slots it airs on television. Lacking a cable channel like NBC has in MSNBC, CBS also created a 24/7 digital streaming service. It's available online and on the network's mobile app. Like many other news outlets, CBS is trying to capture audience whenever it is available. The web also provides access to more information than could ever be aired in a single television program or published in a single newspaper. The "bottomless news hole" of the web creates an opportunity to satisfy news consumers who want more than what the traditional media can offer. Interactivity Online media give journalists the opportunity to ask the audience to do more than passively read or watch a story—online users can be invited ro explore information on their own, add perspectives to the storytelling or literally try something for themselves. This may be the real key to making multimedia stories powerful. For example, you may be working on a story about restaurants that don't meet stare health standards. You will only be able to include a limited number of restaurants in your broadcast or text story, but if you add an online componenr, you can give users access to the entire restaurant report database so they can search for their favorite restaurants' ratings on their own. You could ask users to add their own restaurant horror stories or invite customer reviews of popular restaurants. If you have a creative online production team, you might work with the health department to create an interactive inspection game. The game might use a series of photos of a typical restaurant kitchen and ask users to spot the violations that health inspectors have set up for the purpose of this teaching tool. Innovation As you can see, the online medium allows us to combine the best of text and broadcast in innovative ways. Often journalists who don'r understand the technical side of the web are afraid to brainstorm the online component of a multimedia story because they don't know what's possible. The secrer is to think from an audience perspective: How can I present the information in away that's most helpful to the user's understanding? How can I make exploring this issue fun for the user? How can I find out what the user already knows or wants to know about this story? When the Richmond Times-Dispatch was working on content to help commemorate the anniversary of the 1965 Selma civil righrs march, one of the reporters involved discovered something called the Alabama Literacy Test. Blacks in Alabama had to take the rest in order to vote, but the questions were so difficult that almost no one—white or black—would have been able to pass. The web producers posted a series of the test questions, which helped people understand the type of discrimination that blacks were facing ar rhe time. Sometimes you will want to create unique content but you may not have the technical support to do exactly what you want. Even so, you'll be surprised how much you can accomplish if you can get people excited about a good interactive idea. GO ONLINE Module 1: Test what you know strengths of each medium with active game. about the our inter- THE SOCIAL AND MOBILE ADVANTAGE Social and mobile news consumption has exploded in recent years and the two have become synonymous in many ways. Researchers found that 89 percent of people in the United States with mobile devices use them to access news, and a significant portion of that news consumption is via content posted on social media. In fact, time spent on mobile news apps and sites has actually declined in favor of time spent accessing news through social networks.8 Sharing Capacity Most multimedia journalists now use Facebook, Twitter or another social network to do incremental reporting—essentially, reporting pieces of the story as they happen. These updates are designed to keep the audience engaged throughout the evolution of the story, so reporters will post photos and videos, ask questions or respond to viewers—all on their mobile devices. The mobile audience often clicks on links found on social media networks to view the finished version of a story on a news organization's website. One local news site in Oxford, Mississippi, HottyToddy.com, routinely gets a third or more of its traffic from mobile Facebook users. The writers for the site have learned that a well-crafted Facebook post with a link to a story can triple rhe number of viewers for that content. Multimedia journalists also use the combination of a smartphonc and social media to monitor the news around them. They check for Trending topics, follow the competition to make sure they're not missing anything and watch to see if their story sources are making relevant comments via social networks. 16 Advancing the Story Chapter 1 • The Multimedia Mindset 17 Audience Engagement Social media offers news organizations and individual journalists a way to interact directly with viewers. WLS-TV in Chicago is one of the most successful TV stations in the country when it comes to engaging audiences on Facebook. The station has more than two million followers and gets tens of millions of reactions, shares and comments annually on its Facebook content. The station posts about once every 20 minutes, according to digital director Jennifer Hoppenstedt, and she sees each of those posts as an opportunity to connect with people. "On a day-to-day, hour-to-hour basis, we make decisions on the most compelling content available and send that out to our social audience," Hoppenstedt said. "It's just about finding good content and sharing it." Another news organization seeing tremendous success with Facebook is KIT V in Tyler, Texas, The station has more than 270,000 followers, more than the city's population of about 100,000 residents. Assistant news director foe Terrell says people come to the station's Facebook page because they're interested in news from the area and because they know they can rely on KLTV to deliver when it matters most. "We had major wildfires one year. They were consuming houses and we manned Facebook 24/7 for a month. We were Doppler radar for fires," Terrell said. "We built a loyal audience because we were there for them." Both KLTV and WLS pride themselves on responding directly to viewer questions and tracking post engagement to be sure they have a solid understandingofwhat their audiences want and need. Expanded Reach Social media also gives journalism organizations an opportunity to reach people who might never otherwise come in contact with their reporting. For example, KNXV-TV in Phoenix is one of the most successful stations in the country when if comes to building audience on YouTubc. Digital director Kevin Clay says the station is purposefully going after eyeballs inside and outside the market. "You know we're clearly a Phoenix TV station and we cater to the local audience, but when we look at a digital perspecrive and we look at YouTube and Facebook and the others, the world is our oyster/' Clay said. "We get all these national feeds, all this national content, and just because we're a Phoenix station doesn't mean that someone in Detroit or Maine or Florida wouldn't be interested in watching it when its provided by us." Autumn Hand, the digital video and syndication manager at E. W. Scripps Company which owns KNXV, says this is an important change in mindset for those working in local TV. "When they see that their video has engagement far outside the market, they realize its value," Hand said. "A video about any kind of conflict in Cleveland or a weird story in California, those have appeal in the U.S. and beyond, and we re going to serve that audience, too." The ability to reach audiences far beyond the boundaries of an individual news market was first facilitated by the web and has been greatly expanded by social networks. BBC launches daily vertical video news product MULTIMEDIA ETHICS Along with new storytelling opportunities, multiplatforrn journalism brings new ethical challenges. J. D. Lasica, former senior editor of the Online Journalism Review, says these can be grouped into three broad categories: gathering the news, reporting the news and presenting rhe news. For example, when you as a multimedia journalist are gathering the news, when is it OK to use information or images from social media? When you arc presenting the news, do different standards apply to a live shot on Facebook versus one on television? Throughout this text, we will explote standards of accuracy in all media, including the issue of how corrections are handled. Plus, the line between advertising and news is often blurred even more in the online world; we look at how sponsorships and other advertising-supported content are handled across platforms. Platform Impact The operational differences of broadcast, online, social, mobile and print media can affect their ethical decision making. For example, TV and online media both deal with pictures and sound, but the nonlinear capability of the web lets users choose whether to click through to view a graphic photo or listen to a disturbing audio clip. Broadcast journalists can warn the audience that the pictures they're about to see may be disturbing, but a newspaper can't alert you to a potentially troubling photograph if it's published on the frontpage. More questions arise when a news organization must decide if its ethical principles are uniform across platforms. Tf your editorial decision makers believe an image is too graphic In recognition of the way many smartphone users hold their phones, the BBC developed an app with content designed to viewed vertically in fullscreen, and with subtitLes. More than 60 percent of BBC News' digital traffic comes via mobile devices, and the network has created a new vertical videoteam in recoqn tion of changing consumption patterns. Source - BBC.com, retrieved from http://www.bbc. co. u k/m ed i acentre/ worldriews/?C W bbc-launches-daity-vertical-video-news-product [accessed September, 2017]. f"8Q I íl MASARYKOVA UNIVERZITA- íl FAKULTA SOCIÁLNÍCH STUDIÍ !R Joä!0'.i Audit: State contractors can't account for 234 seized vehicles UfKAateí, Oav»3 Sc.™ PeiwsllftCOim. loáj, summer RAKISH. N,t,.— ApJi' ol (ont-j;ts-i tjsSf-3 w> ttwi& itifiirj í-^i ,„ke,;;-aff tan «-..TiHf v *tc mir «»mo> % ieptr\ .cSraw) lurvlty. WRAL-TV in Raleigh, North Carolina, considers the audience in the way the station's website "time stamps" original posts and updates to stories_ Soiirce.WRAL.com, http://www .v.1:' cjl.com/audit- state-contractors- can-t-account- for-234-sezed- vehicles/16978654/ (accessed September 28, 2C17;. 154 Advancing the Story WRITING FOR THE WEB More than three-quarters of journalists working in TV news say their jobs require them to write for the web.3 Fortunately, many of the techniques you've already learned, particularly in writing for broadcast, will help you succeed online; however, there are sonic additional things you need to know. GO ONLINE Module 7: Discover web writing tcchn;oues that improve usability. Grab Attention! People often come to the web to see what's new in a breaking or ongoing story—the immediacy of online attracts them to the web much as it does to broadcast news. 'Ihat means the opening of your online story has to be much like a good broadcast lead. A good online lead jumps out at users and makes them want to read more. Here's an example: A flood is forcing Omaha State University to cancel classes for a week. The schools computer room flooded yesterday shutting down the network and making it impossible for the university to operate. If you're a student at Omaha State, that lead sentence will clearly capture your attention. Even if you don't attend the school, floods and canceling classes for a week are unusual enough that its likely a user will read on. When you write a lead sentence, you need to tell what the news is and present it in a way that will encourage as many people as possible to read more. Use Time and Tense Whenever possible, begin by telling users what's happening right now or what's expected to happen in the future. Web stories can and should be updated whenever information changes. For example, ihe news in the Omaha State story is that classes are being canceled, not the flooding that happened the day before. This sounds obvious, but to write in present tense, you have to know what is happening right now. To write in future tense, you have to think about what's expected to happen soon. So, in the flood example, a future-tense lead might look something like this: Omaha State students won't be in class as usual this week. The university's computer room flooded yesterday, shutting down the netwotk and making it impossible fot the school to operate. Specific time references can also add to a sense of urge ncv online: Omaha State University is cancelling classes this week. The school's computer room flooded yesterday, shutting down the network and making it impossible for the university to operate. At 2 p.m. today, school administrators will meet to figure out how to make up the instructional time lost. They are considering a Chapter 7 • Writing the Story: Digital 155 shorter December holiday break. That could disrupt vacation plans and leave some businesses without part-time workers. One word of caution here: If you are using specific time references and even present or future tense, it is ethically imponant that you stay on top of the story and remove those references when they become outdated. Fot example, at 8 p.m., you don't want a story online that looks ahead to a 2 p.m. meeting that has already occurred. Be Concise and Conversational Ir's particularly imporrant for web stories to use short declararive sentences. This technique should help you be clear and concise. Ir's also a good practice to stick to one idea per sentence, so that means avoiding long clauses and passive voice. Remember, readers are often scanning your copy, so this short and declarative style of writing may help hold their arrenrion. Also keep in mind that you're not writing to impress your audience, you're writing to infotm your audience. You can be even more informal online than vou might be on the air. # NEWS WEATHER SPORTS VIDEO HEALTH EDUCATION TV 6UIF COAST WEEKEND ABOUT US Jackson County eyesore coming down Byjonathan Brarman, Reporter- OO@0 r. MARTIN, MS (IfVLOX) - After y( inhyoffii/eyearssii Motel n St. Martin is coming uuv.ii. nam. sm. 28 Advancing the Story (Continued) Source.- Courtesy of Elise Fowler. TRADE TOOLS WEB WRITING STYLE l~cr broadcast writers n particular, the onl:ne witing style has a lot of similar ties to the way you already produce copy But don't forget that witing for the web involves thinking about the unique charactenst cs of the medum: • Grab attention with your first line of copy. • Put key words at or near the start of your first line. • Use present or future tense in the opening line whenever possible. Chapter 7 • Writing the Story: Digital 159 professor or a friend who will give you the real scoop? And read your Lead out loud to yourself! 2. Three Ds to make your writing pop like a 3D movie: Drama, Details. Diligence. Fowler says you want to try to get dramatic tension up high, create some sort of conflict, offer details to give people a sense o- being there and be diligent in answerirg all of the readers' questions 3. Give your reader a reward for finishing the story—end with a bang, not a whimper. Fowler says, "You don't want to put ail of your good information in the first few paragraphs because if you do and then they stick with you, it just gets a little boring and a little more boring as they go down and they're going to he very compelled lo want to skip that." • Make sure you explain why the story is relevant to a general audience. • Use short, declarative sentences to make the copy easier lo read and absorb. • Use a conversational style that capitalizes on the intimacy of the internet. • Mind the fundamentals—good grammar and punctuation, accuracy and ethics. • Write for the scanners; use subheads, bullets and short paragraphs. you'd spell out the number if the sentence began by saying how many students registered: "Twenty-four students signed up in 2014, the first year the course was offered." Use full names and titles in online stories. On the radio, you might refer to "President Trump," but in a first reference online you would write "President Donald Trump." Capitalize titles used before names. It's always a good idea to have access to a style guide like the AP Stylebook to check how-to handle specific situations and stay up to date on changes. ETHICS IN ACTION NEWS RELEASES Journalism isn't the only profession trying to capitalize on the power of digital media. PR is doing it too. News releases often include complete television news stories that stations are free lo run, along with supplemental information in the form of news stories to be posted on Ihe web or published in the newspaper. Some television stations have run video news releases (VNRs] without any attribution at all. Newspapers sometimes print press releases without changing a word. The problem is that if the source is not disclosed, the audience has no idea that the accuracy of the content has not been verified. The student-produced newscast at Virginia Commonwealth University has a strict policy of identifying the source of any video not gathered by students involved in the show. Source: Courtesy ot Virgin □ Commonwealth Univer5ity School of Mass Communiffltinns. Sharing the source of the video or column allows viewers to apply a healthy amount of skepticism to what they're seeing or reading. The Radio Television Digital News Association's Code of Ethics states that professional journalists should "clearly disclose the origin of information and label all material provided by outsiders." The g-oup also urges news organizations to use VNR content only when there is no other way to get the video and the story has clear news value. Many news organizations require that the source of outside video be clearly identified both verbally and visually. For example, in a story about a new kind of poultry processing, you might not be allowed inside the plant to shoot your own video. In that case, you might include the following line of copy in your story: "As you can see in this video provided by SuperPoultry Foods, the company says the new machines will change the way each chicken is cleaned." In addition to the verbal reference, you might add text over the video to identify the source on both TV and the web: SuperPoultry Foods. If you're using a quote online that you've lifted directly from a news release, just add a reference: New machines will change the way each chicken is cleaned at the company's processing plants," Super-Poultry's CEO Bill Smith said in a news release. The best way to protect your credibility and serve your audience is to be transparent—let people know what information you have and where you got it. Currency symbols not used in broadcast are standard in online stories, and you can use specific numbers online. A broadcast script would refer to rhe city budget as being "just over 231 million dollars," but the online story should read "$231.2 million." Spell out numbers if you begin a sentence with them. The only exception is starting a sentence with a year. So you'd write: "2014 was the first year the course was offered," but ADAPTING STORIES FOR THE WEB Whether you write a new version of your story for use on the web or adapt a story from another medium, the same basic rules for online readability apply. So, let's put all of this into practice by looking at some examples. 160 Advancing the Story Print to Online The image on page 161 shows how a story about a mistrial in an important federal case appeared on the front page or The Arizona Republic newspaper. When that same story was posted online, as you can see on page 162, it was enhanced for the web audience. Notice the use of white space—literally the blank spaces between each paragraph or design element on the page. Though not visible in this image, subheads wete added to break up the story into sections; a video clement was uploaded, as well as a photo slide show and links to related content. The story is packed with good information, but it's broken down in a way that makes it easy for the online user to follow. w GO ONLINE Module 7: Practice converting copy for the web. Broadcast to Online TV scripts require special attention when being revised for use on the web. Cory Bergman, general manager for Breaking News, a social media company owned by NBC, came up wirh a checklist for converting broadcast scripts to online, stories: • Combine copy. If you're modifying a package script, combine the lead-in, body of the package and tag all on the same page. Delete redundancies. Make sure the story starts off with a strong sentence, not a tease line. • Remove extraneous information. Strip out computer coding, including director, editing and graphics notations. • Fix capitalization. If you use all upper case for your scripts, convert to upper and lower case, correctly capitalizing as you go along. • Add quotes. Change the sound bites to quotes, adding the correct punctuation and attribution. • Form complete sentences. Drop unnecessary punctuation like ellipses and hyphens, and convert sentence fragments into complete sentences. • Remove video references. Delete any language that makes a direct reference to video and audio, but add appropriate description to bring a visual element to you r copy. • Beef up rhe story. Add important details. Web copy should deliver more information than 20-second TV stories deliver (with the possible exception of breaking news). • Bring it all together. Make sure The story reads well from beginning to end. • Add interactivity. Finally, add links to any relevant materials." 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