Quality Quick News

Writing for the web really has one main purpose: DON'T LET THE READER LOSE FOCUS.

As anyone who has used the Internet as a tool of procrastination knows, the web is a war zone, with one ambush after another waiting to distract you.

So how does a writer fight the 'good fight' and keep someone's interest?

Guile.

Every sentence, every tool of Internet writing, is a weapon for a writer. A constant struggle to stay one step ahead of a sophisticated, web-savvy reader who knows, beyond a doubt, that this same information can be obtained elsewhere.

As melodramatic, or underhanded as it sounds, journalism is only as successful as its bait. A writer is literally luring his reader into a trap. Place down a big juicy headline and a writer is bound to snag something. But the most difficult part is keeping the reader caught.

In a day and age where everything from cars to computers to toasters are being altered to go faster and faster, news, too, has had to adapt to the world's changing speed. The leisurely read of the morning paper has been replaced by coffee-to-go and a quick scroll down the Blackberry.

Readers want to be informed, they want to be entertained, and they want it Now.

But although journalism is a business, as driven towards success and profit as anything else, the crucial, and arguably noble, desire to inform remains.

A writer might want his reader caught, but it is mearly to feed the reader with delicious morsels of information from around the world.

So where is the balance? Is there such a thing as quick, quality journalism?

The answer to that question is: There better be. Because quality or not, news is either fast...or old. That is the way news has always been, and with the instantaneous mass communication available through the Internet, that speed is more crucial than ever.

But there are a lot of positive changes to news writing that have been spurred by the web:

1. Journalists are forced to be concise. They need to know the important facts and they need to bring them to the surface immediately.

2. Although concise, web writing can still be more complex than broadcast writing because it is for the eye rather than the ear. But forcing the reader to re-read is BAD. It is a happy medium between the sometimes insufferably long sentences of print and the sometimes insubstantial sentences of broadcast.

3. Online journalists are free to use all mediums to tell their story, from type, to video, to photos in an effort to appeal to readers. The article itself is merely a snapshot.

4. Stories need to inform quickly, but there is also the option of expanding the story as far as the reader wants to take it, through links to pictures and similar stories.

5. Web writing is less formal than print and allows for greater leniency while still being professional.

Web writing has both its downsides and upsides, but the most important thing for online journalists to think about is what is easiest for them to read. The Internet gives an unprecedented community for journalists and readers alike to share what works and doesn't work. Readers can share what lures them, and journalists can share the best baits. Together, we can figure out the new medium of web news and learn the most successful way to balance quickness and quality.