Online News Publication

Internet users are tired of being bombarded with flashy, confusing news sites. The assigned articles indicate that most users loathe excessive scrolling, complicated features, and clustered text. Here are my ideas for an online news publications based on tonight's readings and my own personal experience:

First I'll tackle the scrolling issue. My website would feature easy to see tabs at the top of the page, which would lead readers to different sections of the publication, (sports, entertainment, business, etc). People seem to feel overwhelmed when confronted with a page that requires extensive scrolling. This simple notion of page length is a surprisingly weighty issue. My site will have a well organized home page with a few important, daily headlines and the tabs at the top of the page. No page will be too long, the end of a page will never appear unreachable!

Surprisingly some of the people interviewed within the readings complained about news sites constantly changing and updating their information. Certain stories get dropped and change positions from one moment to the next due to the influx of breaking news. One would think the up to the minute surge of information would be one of the best features of online journalism. Still, some find it confusing and annoying. For these readers, my homepage will remain the same throughout the day. My staff will simply make updates to the stories already presented on the home page. Aside of this, any new stories will be made available to readers on a TODAY'S UPDATES link easily seen at the top of the homepage.

Web savvy readers crave technologically advanced websites. Some users complain about complicated videos that overrun sites and make them an eyesore. But, any site bereft of excellent video footage cannot stand up against other major competitors. My site will feature easy to use and access video footage. (Anyone who cannot run a video will receive the proper assistance on our HELP tab, once again at the top of the home age. The HELP tab will plainly list any plug ins or programs that need to be installed to run the footage.) Aside of this technical information, our videos will be rich with facts, but not too long. Many users complain about the time wasted downloading and watching such clips. To avoid this, every clip will come with a short summary for readers questioning whether or not they want to invest time in viewing the clip. Users also demand some level of entertainment available on a website. For these men and women we will offer a NEWS COMEDY tab and the ENTERTAINMENT tab. The NEWS COMEDY section will feature hilarious, poignant splices of politically charged skits from SNL, The Colbert Report, and the Daily Show. The ENTERTAINMENT tab will give a reader access to local movie times and previews.

The need for an interactive news environment was also stressed in the readings. This will be achieved on my site by offering users several opportunities for blogging. As the articles say, Journalism is becoming more of a conversation. These blogs will allow reporters to directly communicate or "converse" with avid readers.There will also be a forum available to readers, for the purpose of fixing mistakes and checking facts presented in an article. Through my own experience and research I have found that bloggers sometime make the best editors. Certain readers will undoubtedly live in the areas that get covered in our stories. All too often street names, city officials, and building get misspelled by out of town reporters. No one knows the ins and outs of an area better than the local residents. This function will give local users an easy way to correct any mistakes that may have been made in an article about their home town. Obviously, factual errors will be avoided at all costs, but if our site does make one, this option not only saves the site's back, but also lets readers get involved and feel connected to our site.

This blogging will also give opportunities to citizen journalists. During the 7/7 London bombings the Guardian online newspaper received thousands of blogs. The blogs served as detailed, first hand accounts of a situation that reporters did not have access to. My site will encourage this kind of citizen journalism, and provide open blogging opportunities to all readers. Our staff will include an individual in charge of sifting through these grass roots stories. From here this staff member can either produce a story from the disconnected parts, or publish a well-written story from a citizen journalist. To emphasize the site's stance on the importance of interactivity, we will publish one citizen generated news story on our home page each week. As the articles state, "interactivity breeds more involvement." These features will excite readers and encourage them to visit our site far more often than other sites with fewer interactive features.

The ability to customize a website is also seen as important to some users. With a user's consent we will document their history and offer customized home pages based on the articles the reader clicked on in the past. To a certain degree, users will also be able to select their own home page set up and background. Young people hate being buried with one headline after the other. It has been reported that these readers want the website to decide which are the most important stories. Our site will select the stories we consider to be the most important and place them on the default home page. On top of this, readers who opt to have a customized home page, will receive headlines which we deem to be most important or relevant to these users.

Copy Editors

The life of a copy editor appears to be a challenging one. They work long shifts often extending past midnight, have little time for their families, get little to no vacation time on holidays, receive lackluster paychecks, and rarely obtain adequate recognition or respect from a newspaper's readership. In spite of these apparent hardships, many copy editors love their line of work. Jeff Baron, copy editor of the Metro section in the Washington Post, offers several reasons why his difficult profession is entirely worthwhile. Editors like Baron work tirelessly for the sake of their readers. They make sure new stories are coherent by condensing obtuse language, fixing spelling mistakes, and inserting missing background information. Their work is hardly straightforward or bereft of creative opportunities, as copy editors are in charge of writing the punchy, gripping headlines that accompany news stories. These editors combat the pain of grueling work hours and skimpy paychecks with the joys of finding hidden errors, drawing readers into a story with a snappy headline, and the feeling that they are respected and valued by reporters.

Copy editors save newspapers from embarrassing factual errors and libel suits. They are often the last person to read an article before it goes into print. Because of this, it becomes absolutely vital that these men and women are skilled at finding factual errors, cutting down on lengthy sentences or confusing jargon, and applying smooth transitions. At some newspapers copy editors have permission to rewrite articles and decide which stories actually make it into printed form.

Interestingly, possessing a college degree in journalism does not appear to be a major factor in obtaining a position as copy editor. Experience in a news room setting seems to outweigh the importance of a bachelor's degree from a well known university. Working on a school newspaper is highly recommended in pursuing this career, as it provides tremendous experience. More so than writing for school papers, internships provide ideal gateways for students to enter into the copy editing environment. Internships often offer excellent positions to students upon graduation. The first-hand knowledge gained at an internship is exceedingly valuable, even if a job opportunity is not presented.

--The article on the "Slot Man" served to show vital copy editors are to their respective newspapers. When news desks were shaped like horseshoes the copy editors sat at the head of the curve in the center of the shoe. This was done so the editors could easily reach reporters and reflect upon their stories. This brief segment reinforces the idea that all stories must go through the hands of a well-trained copy editor before appearing in print.