Editing for the Web, Pamela Di Pinto

It is a common fact: online readers want news fast. For this reason, stories for online use cannot be the same as their text- or print-based form. Instead, they must be altered, or edited, for the web, so users can scan through the story quickly while still getting the most important information first.

Although this is an excellent example of investigative reporting, an article from the Montreal Gazette entitled "Runaway prius story more fiction than fact" seems to be nothing more than shovelware, or a news story that has been "shoveled" on to the web without any changes made from its original print version. As mentioned above, news must be edited for online use; individuals who access news from the web differ from those who access news from the newspaper, so their stories should be adjusted accordingly.

To edit this story for better use online, the article should be "chunked," or divided into different sections using subheads. There are clear sections within the article naturally, so adding subheads would help break up the text and make the text more scannable for online news-goers. Remember: subheads should not be written like headlines! They should summarize themes within the story, so the reader knows what to expect further into the story. Bullets can also be used to break up the text, and would work effectively in this story. As well, paragraphs in online news stories should be kept short in length, and concise, to communicate the most important information to readers quickly. The paragraphs in this article do vary in length, however they tend to be around 4-5 sentences each; paragraphs should only be 1-3 sentences for online use. The writing style is also more reflective of a print-based story, with lots of color and personality. Although this can be effective, and definitely showcases the journalist's writing abilities, we again return to the point that online news-goers want information fast! Keep it short, sweet, and to the point, while keeping SEO in mind at all times. Finally, the journalist could have incorporated more multi-media elements into the story, such as pictures and videos, as well as external links to related articles or information on the Toyota recall in general. All of these elements work to paint "the bigger picture" for readers, while encouraging them to do some of their own investigative reporting on the issue too.

Note: Image from akamai.net