Online vs. Traditional Journalism

The differences between online journalism and traditional journalism are vast. First, online journalism is interactive, something its counterparts cannot compete with.

Interactivity could be defined as having the world in your reach with just the simple click of a mouse. Interactivity is an idea that will be covered much further on in this essay.

With traditional journalism, reporters have a specific set of rules to follow and a set amount of space in which to fill. Whereas the space to fill in online journalism is infinite and rules are virtually unheard of. Sure, there are some guidelines to adhere to such as arranging news stories in order of importance (heirarchical), the type of story your online editor may be looking for and the shapes and sizes of photographs but the palette the e-journalist has to work with knows no boundaries.

The World Wide Web Consortium (WC3) does create the standards to "bring the Web to its full potential." It outlines seven points, or protocols, to follow:

1. Universal access
2. Semantic Web
3. Trust
4. Interoperability
5. Evolvability
6. Decentralization
7. Cooler Multimedia

These protocols, while not set out specifically for online journalism, can be used when deciding on the content for a news Web site. For more information about these seven points, click here.

One example of a format an e-journalist can follow when writing original material for the Web is the following:

1. idea/brainstorm - ask yourself, "What am I hungry for?"
2. collect/net - depth of content, how relevant is it?
3. focus/focus - can you describe your story in six words?
4. order/map - the story is a journey, needs doorways, exits and entrances
5. develop/assemble - how will you put your story together?
6. review/update - keep your story fresh. (Washburn, 2002)

The method outlined above gives complete attention to the details that make a good story become a great story. Most of the steps could be used for traditional journalism but not all of them. For example, you cannot review and update your story in a newspaper or on a radio broadcast, only publish a follow-up to the previous article. With online journalism the e-journalist has the option to review and update the story even though it has been published.

Online Journalism allows for broader coverage of a topic. The e-journalist can link the story to any relevant source of information in the world. For example, if an e-journalist writes a story about homelessness they can give the story the local spin if it is for an online newspaper for a specific area (i.e Toronto). The e-journalist can then link the story to local, provincial, national and global Web sites about efforts worldwide to eradicate homelessness. This gives the reader a different experience than that of reading a newspaper or watching the local news on television. It gives the reader a global perspective on a topic they may think is happening only in their city or town. It also allows the reader to see that there are productive, meaningful efforts to make a difference in the world.

Online journalism also allows the reader to respond to what they have read instantly. Readers can join discussion forums, newsgroups or email their opinion to any online newspaper in the world. They can also talk with others who have read the same article or
viewed the same video and share their ideas and opinions. Online journalism allows people to explain their ideas to the world with just the simple click of a mouse and keyboard. it's interactive...