CLASS 1: digital storytelling

Digital storytelling: text first!

• Writing

More tolerance for text online than in print.

• Source: Poynter Eyetrack07 Study http://eyetrack.poynter.org/keys_01.html

Once Web readers commit to a story, they will stay with it longer.

• Source: OJR review of Eyetrack07 findings

Text, not photographs, is the entry point into home pages. Short paragraphs received twice as much attention as long.

• Source: Eyetrack III study

Use subheads and links. Keep sentences brief and straightforward.

• Source: Mindy McAdams tips on writing for the Web
  

Write in chunks that convey a single idea.

• Source: Mindy McAdams page on chunks
  

Web headlines: Unlike print heads, which exist within a context on the page, Web headlines must convey the entire story in limited words. A print headline can entice the reader with suggestions of content. A Web headline, which exists in a list without context, must be more straightforward.

• Source: New Media Bytes, How Web and Print Headlines Differ

• Reporting

Crowdsourcing: Harnessing the power of community on a continuing basis to improve a service or information base. Example: Asking the public to contribute to an online map plotting all the places in a coverage area to go for free wireless Internet access.

Distributive reporting: Asking for an online community’s help on a specific story or project. Example: Asking the publish to help in an investigation of ongoing concerns over rising utility bills.

• Source: “Journalism 2.0” online textbook

• Blogging, labels and tags

On the Ning platform, the blog post is the mode of expression. That is, everything we’ll do will take the form of a blog post. We need to distinguish among the different types of content we present and label them accordingly. Let’s consider these labels and tag posts in the same way. Do we need more or fewer designations? Let me know.

• News: Fact-based material with a time element. This label will include small stories or briefs (often called “updates”) that you can expand on in later posts. The News label will also apply to larger fact-based projects, including those that occupy the featured position at your Bear Claw page or at the home page.
• Profile: An examination of a person, place or issue that does not have an urgent time element. If you are concerned about over-selling a non-urgent fact-based piece by labeling it news, call it a profile.
• Analysis: A fact-based piece in which the author assesses, evaluates, interprets or draws conclusions of her/his own, beyond statements from sources.
• Opinion: A piece that goes beyond fact to present constructive criticism, policy recommendations, judgments based on the author’s point of view, and other forms of personal expression.