Is The Net Good For Writers?

By RU Sirius (10zenmonkeys.com)

"Writing as a special talent became obsolete in the 19th century. The bottleneck was publishing."

That bold statement came from Clay Shirky when I interviewed him for the NeoFiles webzine back in 2002. I never got around to asking him if that was an aesthetic judgment or a statement about economics and social relations.

But here's a contrasting viewpoint. Novelist William Burroughs met playwright Samuel Beckett, and after some small talk, Beckett looked directly at Burroughs and said, propitiously, "You're a writer." Burroughs instantly understood that Beckett was welcoming him into a very tiny and exclusive club — that there are only a few writers alive at any one time in human history. Beckett was saying that Burroughs was one of them. Everybody writes. Not everybody is a writer. Or at least, that's what some of us think...

Now the web — and its democratizing impact — has spread for over a decade. Over a billion people can deliver their text to a very broad public. It's a fantastic thing which gives a global voice to dissidents in various regions, makes people less lonely by connecting other people with similar interests and problems, ad infinitum.

But what does it mean for writers and writing? What does it mean for those who specialize in writing well?

I've asked ten professional writers, including Mr. Shirky, to assess the net's impact on writers. Here are their answers to the question...

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Editors 'out of touch' with citizens

Citizens offer new take on news
From the BBC online:

Sites such as Digg are setting a new agenda A news agenda formulated by citizens would be radically different from that put together by journalists.
That is the conclusion of a US study which compared what made the headlines in the mainstream media with that of three diverse user-driven news sources.
The study - conducted by a wing of the US Pew Research centre - compared stories over seven days.

Its results will make interesting reading for news editors as well as the new breed of citizen journalists.

The report - released by the Project for Excellence in Journalism - took a snapshot of news stories from the last week in June 2007.

Raw information

It compared the stories making the headline in 48 mainstream news sources, including TV, radio and online, to that of three user-driven news sites - Reddit, Digg and Del.icio.us.
It found that the interests of users was markedly different to that of traditional editors.
Seven out of ten of the stories selected by the user-driven sites came from blogs or non-news websites with only 5% of stories overlapping with the ten most widely-covered stories in the mainstream media.

"Users gravitated towards more eclectic stories. There was a sense that users sifting through a lot of raw information; rumour, gossip, propaganda and the news were all thrown into the mix," said Tom Rosenstiel, one of the authors of the report.

In a week dominated by stories about Iraq and the debate about immigration, users were more interested in the release of the iPhone and the news that Nintendo had surpassed Sony in net worth.

This technology bias was partly down to the fact that it was early adopters of technology that lead the way when it came to "playing with the potential of the internet to empower users", said Mr Rosenstiel.

Citizen editors

Traditional news gathering is not redundant quite yet. In all, 40% of the most popular stories on Digg and Del.icio.us, were devoted to technology with the second most popular category being lifestyle stories.

One of the biggest differences noted by the researchers was the emphasis put on a single story. While the mainstream media tended to revisit the same story from a different angle each day, users were happier dipping in to a variety of topics.

"It was more hit and miss with a sense that they wanted to know a little about a lot of things," said Mr Rosenstiel.

News editors need not hang up their notebooks and pens quite yet though. The report found that traditional news outlets such as the BBC still accounted for a quarter of the content on the user news sites. Interestingly, original content accounted for just 1%.

"That suggests that people are re-aggregating the news in the style of citizen editors rather than journalists," said Mr Rosenstiel.

"These sites offer people a different take on the news but it doesn't mean that traditional journalism has become irrelevant. They are forming more of secondary conversation about the news," he said.

Credibility and Good Writing

What makes a great news site?

In a word: credibility. Credibility is based on high quality graphics, and good writing.

The most valuable credibility comes from firsthand encounters. That means you seeing something firsthand, and reporting it. The value erodes as this experience becomes increasingly secondhand, thirdhand and worse.

After that, good writing comes in 2 forms: the writing itself (the content) and then how it is presented.

If you're a blogger, or in charge of designing articles for websites, remember the following:

- highlight keywords (people can skim a page in 3 quarters of a second)
- create meaningful subheadings (these must not regurgitate what is in the underlying paragraph)
- provide easy to read bulleted lists (like this one)
- present one idea per paragraph
- have a pyramidical structure (presenting essentially a punchline, and then providing supporting evidence as the underlying triangular structure
- half the word count you'd generally have in magazines and the newspaper

Bullseye

An interesting question here is to what extent you would want to target your text. For example, you could make it very simple and somewhat informal, but then the risk is a diluted, blank audience who might feel 'dumbed down'. Obviously, if it is adequately simple and readable, you get a more 'Reader's Digest' audience - that is, understood by all.

3 Areas

A more targetted style of writing (which I personally prefer) means a more targetted audience, which means revenue can be generated (via content related and targetted advertising). The risk of less simple text is turning away perhaps a majority of readers who prefer non-serious 'popcorn' content. Thus a good mix between quality, credibility and accessiblity is important.

Web 1.0 or 2.0?

What impact is online news having on print media? Is blogging having an impact on the journalistic profession? Yes. But the core of writing is still being done by experts.

If you want to compete, or even talk with the big guns in writing, you have to raise your game. In the same way, if you want your story to be picked up by the major newspapers, it has to be, at a minimum, a good brief.

What that means is, whether you are a citizen journalist or working for an online newsroom, your building blocks should build SOMETHING. Then it can be handed over and using the kernels* of information you're provided, converted to a higher form of knowledge or even wisdom (in the context of news).

Of course, if an article is so hyperlocal or specialised, it might be handed back to a reporter with this demand: flesh out, develop this story.

Captain Fantastic is Elastic

Since online news sites are more flexible than the more static and deadline fixated print media, it is possible for online resources to be based on a Web First scenario. The Web, when properly integrated, can be a highly elastic source of information.

In fact, the best result of news sites in particular, is where these platforms enable users to have a conversation. Communities want to speak amopngst themselves.

When short, simple articles break very quickly online, they can be handed over whilst still 'fresh' to be elaborated and developed in the print medium. This allows the online resource to fully develop itself as a fast and efficient detector of source material.

It can then function as the first originator of flexible and consistently fresh material. The newspaper feeds back and forward to its online counterpart, integrating what is most readable, relevant and appropriate for further fleshing out on paper. In essence, newspapers ought to carry those stories that are just that: the best stories.

One Playing Field

The Web First scenario should not be interpreted as a ranking system. That's not to be implied or inferred at any level. It's a chronological system which is intended to be functionally collaborative. This means Online and Print play on the same field, but perhaps spend more time is various sectors of the field.

It is helpful for the journalists and writers involved, I think, to have an integrated approach in order for Print and Online to enjoy the maximum benefit. If the mindset is that news does not belong to anyone, it is not owned, then inhouse sharing of stories (from online to print and vice versa) can encouraged and the corporate involved will see Win/Win results in both mediums.

Another area that should be the focus of the online journalist is an online follow up on stories. This can be followed through statistics, but even without a technical focus, you the writer can check to see how much coverage your story is getting. Is it still on the homepage after Day 1?

How To Impress...

On this site a number of work related stories (including How To Impress Your Boss)have done well, which should encourage the writer to investigate his theme even further with supporting material (perhaps: How to Impress Your Colleagues in this case).

Remember, many people in South Africa have web access at work, thus work related issues are going to interest them.

Another useful area to 'mine' for ideas is forums and message boards.

Google Maps

An exceptional underutlized area (online and in the print medium) is the simple use of maps and statistics. Google Maps is an extraordinary tool. Any person can mine the internet for statistics, and then visually represent these using Google Maps for very effective articles.

This can be applied to all manner of angles, from crime, to elections, to the number of schools in your neighborhood. Where are the most expensive houses, or the best restaurants, or the big malls in your area? Plot the statistics, and send them in.

A Final Tip

For regular registered reporters on this site: if you would like to quickly search through the archive of your (or other reporter's) stories (without logging in), type in the appropriate name in the searchbar (top right).

This can be used to quickly piece together all the links to stories you (and other reporters you might be interested in) have already produced. This is your easy to use portfolio. You can email the link to friends or prospective employees.

The Incredibles

Remember, at the end of the day, credibility works both ways. Writers want to be associated with a credible resource - whether it is a website, magazine or newspaper. But all these different forms of media also want to be associated with credible people too, including writers.

Credibility as stated above, is based on effort. Good writing does not always come easy; good graphics may take a little extra time to develop and fine-tune. But over the long term, the results will compliment your portfolio.

Writing, Photography and Publishing for the Web

How to turn anonymous page impressions into your loyal community of explorers
It is no longer enough to provide only text, however well written, on conventional news websites. News sites now are effective when they know how to appropriately mix their multimedia content. The effectiveness of this mix depends, naturally, on the content at any given time.

For example when a hurricane story breaks, one of the most effective content sites is http://www.msnbc.com/. Why? Because MSNBC have an excellent blend of vivid pictures, slide shows, animated tracking, satellite images and maps (or graphs) - and text of course - which in combination provide the reader with an excellent picture of what is happening.

It is a moot point: is a person who is surfing the net someone who ‘reads’ or someone who ‘views’? The answer is both. But net based attention spans are very short. You have 1 or 2 seconds to engage your audience, so you need to be as sticky as possible in terms of hooking into human eyeballs.

What works in print also works on the homepage: a vivid, colorful picture that tells a story in itself. The New York Times prefers a horizontal rectangle – a cinemascoping of the image. The BBC often uses the longitudinal image. Which is best depends on site design.

I’m inclined to go for the BBC look, particularly if the idea is to have readers eyes moving towards the text, from left to right and top to bottom.

Subheadings

The goal of the site and content designers (or editors, as the case may be) should firstly be to turn viewers into readers. This means instead of spending a few seconds on your site, their eyeballs will stick to some sticky element, and you will then hold their attention for a minute, possibly much more.

It is very easy in the cramped space of a webpage, where a foot or two of text has to be put down, for the reader to get lost. The fact that your reader (if you’re lucky enough graduate your viewer to a more committed reader) has to use a mouse to navigate means reams of disconnected text float and scroll at speeds that his or her eye might find difficult to track. Here subheadings are not merely useful, but vital.

Recycling

The Washington Post is an example of a site that recycles (basically through redirecting) the reader through its own archives, through its various sections using links. This is an example of the Web enabling ‘stream-of-consciousness’ browsing. Once you can engage the reader’s curiosity, if you place enough stepping stones around him, you’re likely to take him or her somewhere worthwhile.

Swiss Cheese Your Site

Think of 'Swiss Cheese' when you designing content and sites. Each portal should easily lead to another passage which can take you somewhere else. But there should also be textual and visual consistency throughout the site, for example, on different pages.

Logos can obviously reinforce this ‘sense of place’, but a headline picture can be repeated on other pages to reinforce and integrate the site and what it is communicating.
For slideshows, a black background provides a powerful framework to show off pictures to their best effect. They tend to have a classier look and feel too.

It’s important then also to state the obvious: caption all images, and provide links under these captions to other relevant sites. Use color in a consistent manner, unless you would like to differentiate a subsection (eg. the Multimedia page). Change font color and size to differentiate clearly what is ‘article text’ and sidebar ‘Lists’ or ‘Sections’.

Balance

A page needs to be colorful, but not overpowering. To my mind, CNN.com has too much ‘white space’, especially towards the bottom of the page. Time.com has a fine balance between all the basics: text size, spacing, color, photographs and overall use of ‘space’.

Other design features based on ergonomics:

- the searchbar is always placed on the right (when we seek new information, that’s where our eyes travel – to the right and up)
- Most Popular stories (or for Blogs, links or other navigational invitations) should be placed in the right sidebar, in the mid to lower level.
- When the viewer/reader has completed his gaze, the eye will more than likely be at the bottom right, the same place the eye will travel when reading a book: putting something like an ‘impulse purchase’ in the space at the bottom right (a competition, a poll, or as the BBC does – a podcast).

Additional features

Websites can add tremendous utility to bread and butter content but simply providing these in additional formats: For websites that are based on some other real world medium (newspaper or TV) behind the scenes footage or reporting can always be provided in a: ‘More on this story’ section.

The most catchy stories can be complemented with an audio version, particularly where the columnist is well known and well spoken. In the same way video interviews should be featured, but also have the option of having audio only, and also a transcript. Allow the viewer the choice to do/be what he or she wants to: to read, or to view.

To the extent that sites can constantly add and integrate multimedia, the site becomes not only more valuable but more useful, enabling the content provider and the content consumer to communicate and engage on the appropriate level.

Once this level has been measured and ascertained, there ought to be an implicit mutual understanding on what a site will undertake to provide, and the viewer will then commit, perhaps daily, to transition; to spend more time on your site, not merely as a reader, but as a curious explorer.

The basic analogy then is that the content provider is a forest designer, and the reader is Little Red Riding Hood. Now find a way to get her lost in the woods, not in a way that scares her, but in a way that is so much fun, she forgets that she's gotten herself lost in your world.