When reviewing the article 'Canadians warned to avoid northern Mexico after killings' from the Vancouver Star, the first thing that came to mind was the length of the article.
Although the paragraphs are short, the reader is forced to keep scrolling down the page to read the text, and the article has not been made more scannable or broken into segments.
Especially linking to previous articles or other webpages could have dramatically reduced the length of the article since the very lengthy background could have been provided externally.
The article is a prime example of shovelware, and is
devoid of non-linear structure.
devoid of non-linear structure.
Writing subheads and giving facts or numbers in bulletpoints could have made the text more easy to read.
That being said, the article conveys the most recent and crucial information well via the bold subhead, headline and lead. The image is also an appropriate size, not too dark or too detailed.
Unfortunately, many readers would quickly lose interest in this article, despite its content, simply because of its layout and structure.
Note: image from questgarden.com
Katrine, it's good that you included the image information but it should appear as a link.
ReplyDelete