Until recently, page design in the news business referred to how many stories would fit nicely on an 11x17 inch page of newsprint.
It referred to how a story would look like in print, what photo it would have, what information the story conveyed and appeal on the page.
Page design for the web is both surprisingly similar, except a writer isn’t confined to to space limitations. The page could go on forever, as we’ve seen on the Los Angeles Times’ website.
Another distinction web or mobile has with news “page design” is that it has to catch someone’s eye immediately or they are just a click away from having a reader’s attention averted
However, there are a certain aspects of web page design that, as a journalist, I need to take advantage of. Since the web, inherently, allows you to do more, here’s my list of what makes a good news story on the web.
1 . Readable paragraphs, digestible information.
I liked when no more than two sentences are in a paragraph or block of text in a news story online. It makes it easier for the web, and especially mobile, user to get through. I shouldn’t have to trudge my way though pointless quotes or wordy information online. I should be able to see something—most likely even scan it— and read it.
I like when journalists use bullet points or lists to break things down online because they allow the user to scroll through fast getting the key main points. I also like when breaking news stories are short, sweet and to the point. They tell the news. With issue stories, I like when they include multimedia and breaks for the reader to reflect on the information. I think one of the true challenges for any digital journalist today is choosing the right mediums to captivate their audience so that their piece gets clicks online.
It referred to how a story would look like in print, what photo it would have, what information the story conveyed and appeal on the page.
Page design for the web is both surprisingly similar, except a writer isn’t confined to to space limitations. The page could go on forever, as we’ve seen on the Los Angeles Times’ website.
Another distinction web or mobile has with news “page design” is that it has to catch someone’s eye immediately or they are just a click away from having a reader’s attention averted
However, there are a certain aspects of web page design that, as a journalist, I need to take advantage of. Since the web, inherently, allows you to do more, here’s my list of what makes a good news story on the web.
1 . Readable paragraphs, digestible information.
I liked when no more than two sentences are in a paragraph or block of text in a news story online. It makes it easier for the web, and especially mobile, user to get through. I shouldn’t have to trudge my way though pointless quotes or wordy information online. I should be able to see something—most likely even scan it— and read it.
I like when journalists use bullet points or lists to break things down online because they allow the user to scroll through fast getting the key main points. I also like when breaking news stories are short, sweet and to the point. They tell the news. With issue stories, I like when they include multimedia and breaks for the reader to reflect on the information. I think one of the true challenges for any digital journalist today is choosing the right mediums to captivate their audience so that their piece gets clicks online.
2. Visuals
Although I am your traditional word nerd of a journalist, I know that no one will read your story id there isn’t a good visual attached. In a story online, I believe that the visual should be “above the fold,” and tell your story or at least tease it before the reader has a chance to process any of its words. Great examples are Buzzfeed and the Gannett newspapers I’ve talked about in previous posts.
3. Multimedia=Interactivity
Audio, video, a timeline, a quiz, interactive graphs, a searchable database and an interactive graphic are all examples of engaging multimedia that I have been involved with making just as an editor of student media at Kent State University.
For professional organizations with more money and resources, the possibilities are endless. Plus, there are so many free, outside sources for journalists to use that there should be no excuse that your story doesn’t look as good as the infamous “Snowfall” multimedia story by none other than The New York Times.
4. Links
Links are tricky for news sites because you don’t want people to leave the information you’re presenting them, but you also want to give them outlets to learn more information. I’m just starting out in the field of journalism, so I’m not exactly sure how to handle linking information the right way or what the industry standard is (I’ll explore this in my upcoming posts).
Despite this, here’s my rule of thumb: If a journalist or a news organization is citing information from an organization’s website, using government statistics or citing another news story by its organization or another where they found certain information, it must be linked. With that said, I don’t believe journalists should link to every organization’s website they mention in a story because that could lead to a false sense of promotion, which is the opposite goal of a journalist.
5. Polls
Although they can be annoying, they are engaging. Polls don’t have to be long, usually only one question. I personally like it when polls are part of the story at the end as a sidebar. When exiting a story, I think it is appropriate to poll readers about their feelings toward a topic so that you can get a sense of how people feel and write stories based off of those results.
Audio, video, a timeline, a quiz, interactive graphs, a searchable database and an interactive graphic are all examples of engaging multimedia that I have been involved with making just as an editor of student media at Kent State University.
For professional organizations with more money and resources, the possibilities are endless. Plus, there are so many free, outside sources for journalists to use that there should be no excuse that your story doesn’t look as good as the infamous “Snowfall” multimedia story by none other than The New York Times.
4. Links
Links are tricky for news sites because you don’t want people to leave the information you’re presenting them, but you also want to give them outlets to learn more information. I’m just starting out in the field of journalism, so I’m not exactly sure how to handle linking information the right way or what the industry standard is (I’ll explore this in my upcoming posts).
Despite this, here’s my rule of thumb: If a journalist or a news organization is citing information from an organization’s website, using government statistics or citing another news story by its organization or another where they found certain information, it must be linked. With that said, I don’t believe journalists should link to every organization’s website they mention in a story because that could lead to a false sense of promotion, which is the opposite goal of a journalist.
5. Polls
Although they can be annoying, they are engaging. Polls don’t have to be long, usually only one question. I personally like it when polls are part of the story at the end as a sidebar. When exiting a story, I think it is appropriate to poll readers about their feelings toward a topic so that you can get a sense of how people feel and write stories based off of those results.
6. Social media sharing and commenting buttons
This is SUPER important. I apologize for shouting, but if a news website doesn’t have those little Twitter and Facebook icons (there should be more options for sharing on more social media sites like Reddit and Blogger and such), they should just forget about increasing their page views. I personally like when these icons travel with a reader as they go through a story so that at any time, the reader can click on the icon to share the story on their social network.
In addition to these icons, I think stories should have some type of reader comments at the end tying in their social media accounts. Although I personally hate this because I don’t like giving out my personal information this way. many people do. For lots of journalists, comments are super annoying. Past five comments on a story and the commenting take a turn for the worse talking about aspects not related to the subject. Despite this, commenting is necessary. It’s a sneaky way to engage readers using their social media accounts.
This is SUPER important. I apologize for shouting, but if a news website doesn’t have those little Twitter and Facebook icons (there should be more options for sharing on more social media sites like Reddit and Blogger and such), they should just forget about increasing their page views. I personally like when these icons travel with a reader as they go through a story so that at any time, the reader can click on the icon to share the story on their social network.
In addition to these icons, I think stories should have some type of reader comments at the end tying in their social media accounts. Although I personally hate this because I don’t like giving out my personal information this way. many people do. For lots of journalists, comments are super annoying. Past five comments on a story and the commenting take a turn for the worse talking about aspects not related to the subject. Despite this, commenting is necessary. It’s a sneaky way to engage readers using their social media accounts.