• Will electronic newspapers replace dead-tree newspapers someday? Probably.
• Online media offer readers more variety—and better yet, more control.
• Navigation is a crucial factor on news Web sites: Sites must be informative, inviting and intuitively logical, so users can roam at random, following their curiosities and customizing their news.
• Electronic news reporters need to develop new storytelling techniques.

• Timeliness: Web stories can be posted seconds after they're written and updated constantly as events unfold.
• Images usually run smaller on Web pages (readers can click to enlarge).
• Online text uses bigger type, and stories run in just one column.
• A print story consists of just text, photos and graphics.
• Online stories can become part of a complex multimedia package, combining text, photos, audio, video, animated graphics, interactive chat and more. Stories, images and digital extras can be linked together in layers, with related options just a click away.
• Though the options are more diverse online, journalistic standards and reporting techniques should remain the SAME.

MEDIA CONVERGENCE

• Newsroom convergence: Journalists from different media (TV, radio, newspaper, online) all share the same workspace, instead of occupying separate offices in separate buildings.
• Newsgathering convergence: Reporters, editors and photographers collaborate on story production—Journalists multitask in multimedia.
• Content convergence: The final story is presented in multimedia form, combining text, images, audio, video, blogs, podcasts, slide-shows, etc.

• The Home page:
  • The gateway to the online news.
  • Links users to every related page. It must be comprehensive, yet easy to navigate; busy, yet clean.
  • Story links require compelling headlines and concise, engaging summaries.
  • Key elements on the home page defined (time/date, index, lead story, page depth, footer, navigation button, search engine, ads/promos, interactive extras, links).

Multiplatform Reporting: Convergence at The Journal-World

• The printed word remains the fundamental building block of online journalism, but there are smart, new tools to enhance it.
• Multimedia Options
  • video
  • audio
  • webcams and webcasts
  • podcasts
  • animated graphics
• Interactive Options
  • live chats
  • reader feedback and comments
  • online polls and quizzes
  • downloads
• Links

• What are blogs?
• Who creates blogs?
• Why are blogs important?
• But are blogs journalism?

• The Web is changing reader habits and challenging journalistic conventions.

• "Chunk" your information.
• Tweak your type to make it easier to scan.
• Rethink what a "story" is.
• Enhance your story with extra elements.
• Collaborate.

• A form that helps reporters and editors plan stories for the Web.

• Experts answer the question: How will Americans get their news in the year 2025?