Online journalism works in much the same way as print newspaper journalism. The same rules of saving As much print space as possible for advertisers may not exist, but the basics remain the same.
Inverted Pyramid
Like print newspaper journalism, writing a news story for website requires using the inverted pyramid style. To use this correctly, picture a tornado. A tornado is much larger at the top and gets smaller and smaller as it wears down to a small point at the bottom. This is a useful image because a new story should begin with the largest information at the top and get more and more detailed as it whittles itself down to the smaller points.
AP Style
While most newspapers in the U.S. require Associated Press Style, many online news venues aren't as strict about the style they use. Writing for the online version of the print newspaper will require AP style, but newer news websites may accept new stories written in MLA. Become familiar with both AP Style and MLA in order to have a better chance of getting an article published on an online news site.
News Articles
The goal of all news articles is to answer the questions at the readers may have about the subject matter. To do this, think about 5W's and the H. The 5W's are who, what, when, where, why and the H is how. Look through your news article and see whether it answers all these questions. If not, the article may need more research before it is accepted for publication.
Article Length
Like print news readers, online newsreaders appreciate brevity. This is one reason for the inverted pyramid style. Keep your news article long enough to cover the topic, but refrain from adding extraneous information. An article that is too long will lose its audience before the end.
Online news stories vary wildly in their lengths, but many news websites attempt to keep their news stories at 400 words or less. For feature articles, the length can be far longer for most websites.
Fact Check
Online news stories can be published instantly. There is no waiting for the printing press to run and the distribution trucks to deliver the news. For this reason, fact checking must occur quickly in order to keep misleading information from the website. Check reputable sources in order to make sure of all of your facts before you publish your news article online. Use two sources for each fact in order to be sure that you have the correct information. This will keep your reputation as well as the reputation of the website intact.
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