Distinguishing Characteristics of Online Journalism Vs Traditional Journalism
Online = real time
Online journalism can be published in real time, updating breaking news and events as they happen.
Nothing new here -- we've had this ability with telegraph, teletype, radio, and TV.
Online = shifted time
Online journalism also takes advantage of shifted time. Online publications can publish and archive
articles for viewing now or later, just as print, film, or broadcast publications can. WWW articles can be
infinitely easier to access, of course.
Online = multimedia
Online journalism can include multimedia elements: text and graphics (Newspapers and books), plus
sound, music, motion video, and animation (Broadcast radio, TV, film), 3D, etc.
Online = interactive
Online journalism is interactive. Hyperlinks represent the primary mechanism for this interactivity on the Web, linking the various elements of a lengthy, complex work, introducing multiple points of view, and adding depth and detail. A work of online journalism can consist of a hyperlinked set of web pages; these pages can themselves include hyperlinks to other web sites. Traditional journalism guides the reader through a linear narrative. The online journalist lets readers become participants, as they click their way through a hyper linked set of pages. Narrative momentum and a strong editorial voice pull a reader through a linear narrative. With interactivity, the online journalist can pre- determine, to a certain extent, the reader/participant's progress through the material, but manifold navigation pathways, branching options, and hyperlinks encourage the reader/participant to continue to explore various narrative threads assembled by the reporter/writer/editor. A web of interlinked pages is also an ideal mechanism to give reader/participants access to a library of source documents and background information that form the foundation of an extensive journalistic investigation. Readers/participants can respond instantly to material presented by the online journalist; this response can take several forms. Email to the reporter or editor resembles the traditional letter to editor of print publications, but email letters can be published much sooner online than in print. Online journalists can also take advantage of threaded discussions that let readers respond immediately to an article, and to the comments of other readers, in a bulletin board style discussion that can be accessed at any time. Readers can become participants in the ongoing co creation of an editorial environment that evolves from the online journalist's original reporting and the initial article. Blogs (short for "Web log", a Web-based journal) make this easy.
Much of the journalism published on the Web and elsewhere online amounts to nothing more than traditional magazine or newspaper articles and graphics, perhaps with some added links to related web
sites. By providing an instant, ubiquitous, cheap distribution medium, the Internet adds tremendous value to such articles. Journalists are still experimenting and discovering how best to take advantage of
interactivity and hyper linking to create distinctive works that take advantage of the benefits of the online medium
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