Good Words from Religion Newswriters

Today, I went to the new media preconference for the Religion Newswriter’s Association conference in San Antonio at the Menger Hotel.

In the first session Kate Fox encouraged the journalists there to “Thrive in the new media environment.”

Here are a few good words from Kate:

• “Meaning and context are what make the web usable.”
• “RSS means your headline must hook people.” Often it’s the only thing that shows up in a feedreader.
• Web ethics add a new dimension to journalism. Traditionally, the ethical tension was between editorial and advertising. On the web, especially on blogs, the new ethical tension is between opinion and factual reporting.
• In journalism, first person suggests to readers that they are getting opinion and subjective analysis. Third person suggests that they are getting factual reporting.
• “Blogs are the future [of journalism] because they are cheap to produce.” More and more bloggers are functioning as citizen journalists.
• Citizen journalism cannot be published under the banner of a newspaper unless it is edited.
• “Style is an issue of survival.” Yeah, baby. I love that quote! Kate went on to explain that web style should be short and punchy. But such style could still express good, in depth content.
• “Read your article out loud. If you can’t finish a sentence in one breath, it’s too long.”
• There are three keys to good web writing. It must be accurate, accessible, and substantive.
• “All we have to sell online is our own credibility.”
• “Presentation is important, but substance is more important.” I would only add that substance must also be easily accessible through intuitive browsing tools and a powerful search function.

Thanks, Kate, for a great session!

A Curiosity Note to my regular readers: My wife and I stayed in the Menger the night we were married. We have a soft spot in our heart for the hotel–even though they put us in the wrong room and we saw a mouse. We were so happy to be married, I think we still left them a big tip because we were a couple of love sick loonies. And we’re still love sick loonies 12 years later…