A policy for online news stories

Following Felix Salmon's article 'When Newspapers Rewrite Their Online Articles' I considered our policy at PeterboroughToday.co.uk: Incorrect facts must and should be changed in articles already published online.

But we constantly develop breaking stories, but only subtly alter finished stories from paper by rewriting headlines/intros for web audience/SEO purposes - except for factual inaccuracies.

For larger features, or stories with multiple case studies, these are sometimes broken up, but always interlinked to maximise their potential reach to our audience.

I agree the essence of any article once posted shouldn't be changed, and we constantly consider the pros/cons of editing an existing story or adding a new one for an ongoing event or issue.

Newsmix opens the door to engagement

Newsmixer is certainly worth taking a look at from a local news perspective.

Basically a news community site (based around Eastern Iowa, in the America) sets out to encourage and facilitate interaction and conversation on local news, integrating facebook into the mix, tapping into a strong online community without having to force potential members to sign up to another site.

It offers users the chance to comment directly, share short 'quip' comments (limited to 140 characters naturally) or to write a 'letter to the editor', showing all the freedom and open-ended opportunity the online world bring to news media.

Bringing the public and journalists closer - certainly not ground-breaking, but by making it the focus of the site rather than an optional element it does help to seed the sense of community?

And if it all works out, we'll all be doing it:

News Mixer is free and open source software, coded in Python with the Django Web development framework, and uses Facebook Connect for authentication. You can read more about our development process in our report, and find our source at Google Code.

Very impressive.

Linking out from news articles builds trust

The web was built on links, the modern web is all about relevance and reputation, relevance to the user's interests, and relevance to the content on the page.

In journalistic terms it's a way of showing the workings of a journalist, backing up facts, showing sources, leading the reader on to their own points of interest.

All this enhances the originating website's reputation and the visitors trust of the publisher/brand. Leaving articles as dead ends can leave unanswered questions for readers, there's always plenty of other content online, so losing your audience's interest is like showing them the door.

As The SEO Company's study shows:

"a good number of online news websites are very good at crediting sources with the appropriate link... Offering useful links actually makes visitors more likely to return to see what other interesting websites they might find in the future, a model that sites such as Digg and Fark are built around."

In terms of search engine optimisation, it's great for the Google ranking of a page to link out to related, reliable and trusted sources.

Newspaper industry @ July 2008

Financially times were hard for newspapers even before the economy began to fall over, but Mark Potts' has some wise words for newspapers to remember:

"The printed paper should be a snapshot of what's online [at print time.]"
"Local news is the last unique franchise that newspapers own."
"Let the readers get involved at every opportunity."
"Aggressively offer contextual advertising.”

Jason Kintzler adds on the subject of hyper-local, e-hub style community sites:

there's a huge opportunity for newspapers to harness and distribute more news than ever before. Community newspapers could potentially become the source for everything local, and perhaps beyond.

Newspaper site redesign: The Washington Times

At first glance, aesthetically pleasing on the eye. focussing on more imagery than text, but strong images convey just as much, sometimes more than headlines.

Clean, clear, with a simple events calendar and solid use of multimedia.

An impressive element is the animated initial featured content area, described by Web 2.0h...really?:

This is all smart and satisfying stuff. But the money shot here is the semitransparent Dig Deeper thingbat that lies over the main image. Click on it and the entire main image flips over like a playing card. On the “other side” you’ll find either related media (pictures, videos), themes (topics) or stories.

Although as commenters point out, this use of Flash, may make the content inaccessible...?!

Journalism in the modern age

Bill Thompson writing for the BBC, discusses teaching journalism and studying news consumption in the modern age.

A worrying/challenging/exciting time depending on how you look at it.

"The writing is on the wall for journalism and journalists says regular columnist Bill Thompson."

Meanwhile Paul Bradshaw lists tools and resources for the modern journalist to source and keep tabs on news online, including RSS readers, social networks, news alerts and related content.

"Here are a few tools and tricks that might improve your hunt for stories."

Meanwhile Jeff Jarvis talks about how the press itself is portrayed in reported news.

"One problem I’ve had with much discussion about the future of news lately is that it’s too press-centric."

Also worth checking out: The Telegraph Tech blog scans Ofcom's findings on how we use the media:

"the Government Office of Communications, began its review of the future of public service broadcasting today with the publication of Ofcom’s Second Public Service Broadcasting Review."

Linking within news stories

Responding to Paul Bradshaw's poser: when writing for the web do you think you should include links within an article, or leave it till afterwards?

Well I'm not sure there is a completely fail-safe right or wrong way?

Links within the story make logical sense, as adding them at the end may mean the read has forgotten their purpose or relativity.

Although linking at the end lets the reader read the story without distraction.

But if there are no links, then the stories become dead ends on the website, and that page becomes an exit page rather - BUT the external links take users away anyway?

On our site we add related internal links and useful documents in clearly spaced blocks either at a pertinent point near the top or the end of a story. But specific relevant links go within the flow.

Writing (upside down) for the web

Print journalism has its own established method of drawing readers into stories with cunning, witty headlines, leading to longer in-depth articles and reports, but online the method is turned on its head.

Online, less time and energy is spent reading long passages or articles, thus headlines and opening paragraphs should bring to the front the facts; the who, what, when, where of the story.

Inverted Pyramid

The inverted pyramid is a writing style where the summary of the article is presented in the beginning of the article. This approach makes use of the “waterfall effect” well-known in journalism where writers try to give their readers an instant idea about the topic they’re reporting. The article begins with a conclusion, followed by key points and finally the minor details such as background information. Since web users want instant gratification, the inverted pyramid style, as supported by Nielsen, is important for web writing and for better user experience. From Smashing Magazine, Usability tips

Writing for the web

When creating, editing and designing content for the web, get the message across as quickly as possible.

To do that, say as little as possible, and put the most useful and relevant content first.

Speak plainly and openly and use a tone of voice that's appropriate to the audience. From Web design from scratch

Keeping online news fresh

What do people want to read about? Newspapers can tell when their front page leads return big sales spikes, or particular issues or campaigns elicit a lot of letters and feedback. Newspaper websites have far more understanding and hard figures backing up their decisions.

Online, the options are endless, what works and what doesn't, where, how and when your visitors arrived at your site can be measured in minute details. Most popular stories can be recorded, eye tracking enables designers to produce layouts tailored towards the sites audience preferences.

Measuring trends and activity

At work we are getting an upgrade to our WebTrends site analytics software, which will greatly enhance our ability to track success stories amongst our site structure, layouts and page elements.

I can see it being fascinating to pinpoint what choices we make are working across the site, but coupled with the danger of getting too caught up in the statistics and forgetting to get on with keeping the site fresh.

One of the key methods of keeping the site fresh in terms of content is breaking or updated news at pivotal times of the day. This needs to be habitual, keeping your regular visitors returning when they know there will be something new. Jodie Hopperton describes The Telegraph's similar strategy at editorsweblog.org:

The Telegraph in contrast has 'touchpoints' throughout the day which are in essence mini deadlines to ensure news is fresh at each of its peaks: before work (9am), lunchtime (1pm) and leaving work (6pm).

Landing pages

It is important to remember, unlike newspaper readers who more often begin their read via the front or back page, not everyone of your site visitors comes in through the front door. So it is important to make use of site navigation and to create relevant mini hub pages where more content can be found, encouraging more clicks from passing 'trade', Jodie Hopperton again:

The pattern of usage is different from print to web and many people come through search engines looking for specific content/stories rather than browsing whats on offer as you would normally do in a newspaper.

Another vital key for first time or passing visitors, particularly to localised news sites is a sense of community. Local issues and campaigns should be prevalent, and opportunities for visitors to get involved and have their say should be easily accessible, Hopperton once more:

Creating a community ensures that these readers come back to the site as a central point, it's a good way of guaranteeing a base readership (assuming that the site continues to provide the same level of quality).

Online content doesn't go out of date the same day

Stories online can become or stay popular for days after they were first published. Anne Spackman, Editor of Times Online comments: "even after 2-3 days, old news is still alive, particularly with multimedia."

We have frequently found popular stories, in terms of page views, several days after a story went live, when it was buried lower down headline lists. This gives more valuable feedback on what an audience prefers, it's certainly not a mandate for leading stories, but remembering topics and issues that generate interest is part of the editorial process in a digital news-on-demand environment.

Online advertising continues to rise

Online advertising now accounts for 11.4% of all ad spending in the UK compared with 10.9% for newspapers. Modern online advertising systems like DoubleClick enables advertisers to buy exactly what they want, when they want, directed at people more likely to be interested. This is one key benefit when selling ad space with more confidence to businesses used to buying print media ad space. You get exactly what you pay for.

There is never a guaranteed return on any ad spend in national or local newspapers, print advertising can be hit and miss, unless you are placed in targeted supplements or specific sections of a publication.

The web enables companies to target their customers like never before. The user practically asks for ads that are relevant to them, or at least the technology is there to enable sites to do it, the big search engines are prime examples.
Richard Wray and Katie Allen writing in Saturday 31 March's Guardian Business add:

In search engine media, the advertiser is the content itself," according to Warren Cowan, founder and chief executive of Greenlight, a search-marketing group. He said: "In search engine marketing users request the advertising they see. No other type of advertising has been able to tap into this type of 'user solicited' advertising".

Online newspapers should take up this opportunity, giving local visitors to their news content relevant local ad content, rather than random generic brands that may be of no interest locally or specifically to the viewer on any page.

Search advertising allows companies to vie for position on search engines, so when a user looks for cheap TV sets, a holiday, an iPod or a car, their brand comes out on top. Search marketing is the antithesis of traditional advertising. Traditional TV, radio and print advertising relies upon brands interrupting a connection between an individual viewer or reader and content meant to inform or entertain them.

As the Guardian article concludes, one area that has been contentious is measurement of web statistics. But the Audit Bureau of Circulations Electronic will later this month begin publishing online statistics to enable advertisers and web companies to be better informed about how successful sites are and audience reach.