Is there such a thing as newspaper style on the web?

6 Comments

Comment by Phil Gomes on February 10, 2008 at 11:14am

I remember there was an attempt by Wired called "The Wired Manual Of Style". It was what we needed at the time (mid-'90s), but I think it could bear a hefty revision.

In terms of style, I've been lately fascinated by the effect of the mere hyperlink on writing style. PR folks like me, for example, have long chafed under the amount of exposition that must take place to explain or support a particular concept. By properly using the hyperlink, though, a burden is lifted from the demands of the copy, making it more focused and effective.

Still haven't unpacked this fully in my head. However, I would say that a key part of writing for the web, from a strunk/white kind of perspective, would be to examine the humble hyperlink.

Comment by Sarah Corbitt on February 18, 2008 at 4:56pm

Kat, we both know we're learning together, but it seems to me that your headlines should be very straightforward. This is from my own web use. I will click on a hed that tells me why I should bother, rather than one that tries to be cute. In print, you've got immediate context - a photo, a subhed, a lede. On the web, the hed may be all you have. It certainly is the most important element to draw users in. You're a web user. What works for you? The fun thing is, no one knows for sure. Everyone is still figuring this out.

Comment by Jessica on February 18, 2008 at 5:54pm

Sarah is right. Web headlines should be straightforward and meaningful. Newspapers are used to knowing who the audience is...the people nearby in the distribution area. Being online means being everywhere-- all over the world-- all the time, so names, puns and other things that might work fine in the paper product might not for the Web site.
One pet peeve that I have regarding newspaper Web sites is that they are so crowded...there is no white space left on the page. Think about your favorite Web sites and why they are your favorite. Those are the concepts that should be applied to your newspaper's Web site.

Comment by Rafael Sangiovanni on February 18, 2008 at 8:53pm

Interestingly, one of the reason I visit blogs more than newspaper sites is because of their headlines and how their headlines are displayed on their pages. And just like print the type of headline one writes is dependant on the story. Sometimes being straightforward is enough to draw in a reader, but other times being cutesy or clever adds an extra element of intrigue.

But then again, you're right about the lack of immediate context online. Google is the ultimate example of the importance of headlines: which links do you click on when you're researching something and why?

Comment by Dave Brooks on February 21, 2008 at 8:50am

Ah, but who has the staff time to rewrite newspaper headlines for your Web site? We know that we should - those clever, two-word, oversized heds that we sweat over for the front page are *useless* as a link or to draw search engines - but that manpower usage wasn't in anybody's business plan when they first heard the phrase "repurposing content".

Comment by Francis Ma on March 6, 2008 at 4:38pm

Digg.com has some of the best straightforward headlines ever.

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