Writing for Online Journalism

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Writing forOnline Journalism

• 1 - Introduction

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Origins of the Newspaper

• . . . obsessive exchange of news is one of the
  oldest human activities (Mitchell Stephens).
• Whats new? (travelers, the most popular
  topics)
• Acta Diurna ("Daily Events"), a daily gazette
  dating from 59 BC and attributed in origin to
  Julius Caesar.
• News sheets town criers.
• Newsletters, Middle Ages
• Printing press 1436 (new media), news books on
  specific topics
• Newspapers developed fully in the 1600s,
  cropping up all over Europe starting in 1609 in
  Germany.

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What is Journalism?

• a discipline of collecting, verifying, reporting
  and analyzing information gathered regarding
  current events

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Traditional vs. Online Journalism

• Traditional
• Think story only
• Write only
• Wear one hat
• Collaboration w/ visual people and technologies
• Can sit on a story to let it develop
• Primarily accessible to a limited audience

• Online
• Think content
• Write, repurpose, and collect multimedia
• Wear many hats that can include layout and design
• Collaboration w/ visual people and technologies
• Time pressures Matt Drudge and Lewinsky
• Must consider global reach and ramifications

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To be continued . . .