Introduction to Online-Journalism and Web 2.0

Writing for the Web - Headlines and Teasers

Headline

  • Should be an ultra-short abstract of the article
  • Simple and straightforward (short sentence, subject-verb-object, active voice, not passive)
  • Must work out of context (search engine; article list; bookmark; e-mail newsletter)
  • Must make clear what the text is about: what will the user get for his click?
  • Should have key words that refer to news stories that are still on people’s minds
  • Should have key words that users would put in a search engine to find information about this topic
  • Must work without seeing surrounding data (e.g. pictures)
  • Must be written in plain language (no puns; no clever headlines)
  • rule of thumb: maximum of 40 – 60 character


    Teaser

    • Should be like a “slide” for the user into the article
    • The style depends on your users (serious news-style; tabloid style)
    • Make the first words count (important, carrying information; makes scanning easier)
    • Put details into the text – not the teaser
    • Maximum 300 characters

    News Teaser

    contains the basic information; short, concise, no personal opinion

    A German naval vessel helped avert another hijacking attempt by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. Meanwhile, France and the US are drafting a United Nations resolution to put a stop to the piracy.

    Teaser with cliffhanger

    deliberately leaves one of the six central questions unanswered (who, what, when, where, why, how) BUT: don’t use cliffhangers too often – the idea gets boring for the user after a while.

    Three people were hurt in a car accident on Monday. But one person involved seems to have had a guardian angel.

    A new parental leave scheme has been hugely popular among fathers as well as mothers, Germany's family affairs minister said. But the success comes with a price tag.

    • How to Shorten Links

    Sometimes Links can get very long.


    --> http://files.posterous.com/boesch/5qLk84Rvg0fNifioHetprzj4LF5uAQ8DllckJ2qMgivb2JliIdIJl6W6AUGz/Foto.jpg.scaled.500.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=1C9REJR1EMRZ83Q7QRG2&Expires=1259743926&Signature=6gJJmfeEeQk56Iq6BFYQgs9%2FkUE%3D


    You can shorten them using Services like tiny.url or bit.ly


    --> http://tinyurl.com/airport-cologne

    --> http://bit.ly/airport-cologne


    You can choose an optional name. And - if you have an account - you can see how many people clicked on your link using bit.ly.

    Creative Commons

     

    Creative Commons (CC) is a non-profit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons licenses for free to the public. These licenses allow creators to communicate which rights they reserve, and which rights they waive for the benefit of recipients or other creators. Wikipedia is one of the notable web-based projects using one of its licenses. (Wikipedia)

     

    Home -->
    -->

    A good example for the Evolution via CC is the "Did you know"-Video. Have a look here.

     

    Embedding your slide show in WordPress

    Note: At this time, blogs hosted at WordPress.com are not allowed to insert embedding code. The directions below are therefore only applicable to privately hosted WordPress blogs.

    To embed your slide show in WordPress, you will first need to upload the "publish_to_web" folder created when you click the "EXPORT" button in Soundslides or Soundslides Plus.

    For more information on exporting, click here. For more information on uploading to your Web hosting company's server, click here.

    All informations can be found here.

    Further Infos on FTP - File Upload Explained - In Plain English!