Print vs. Web: Style & Structure

8/4/2019 Print vs. Web: Style & Structure

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Print vs. Web:

Style & Structure

COMM 206


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What is Style?

A collection of rules, regulations

and guidelines concerning spelling,

punctuation, grammar and format.


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Why have a style?

Consistency & Standardization

Why is that important? Easier comprehension, less confusion for

readers

Greater credibility (What else did they getwrong?)

Easier on the copy editors


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Schools of Style

Associated Press

Chicago Manual of Style

MLA AMA & APA

New York Times

Yahoo In-house style


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Examples of Style

Numbers

Three children, 11 grandchildren

Her 4-year-old daughter

8 feet tall

Ive told you a hundred times

84 percent


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Examples of Style

Punctuation & formatting

Periods and commas go inside quotation marks,

he said.

Who was known as the Great Emancipator?

Marx and Engels' most famous work, The

Communist Manifesto, was

NBCs Style Wars is based on the book. One space between sentences!


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Examples of Style

Names & Titles

President Barack Obama / the president of the

United States

it takes time, said Jason Kilar, Hulu's chief

executive, in an interview. The partners hired Mr.

Kilar, former general manager


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Examples of Style

Trademarks & Common Terms

Kleenex vs. tissue

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the local Walmart

Dumpster, trash bin

T-shirt

Email vs. e-mail

Food and Drug Administration, FDA


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Examples of Style

Obscenities, Vulgarities, etc.

The F-Word

How do you handle swears in a quote?

Cleaning up Quotes

Um, uh, ah

Misstatements


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Print Style vs. Web Style

According to Jakob Nielsen

Linear vs. non-linear

Passive vs. Active

Storytelling vs. Call to action

Anecdotal examples vs. comprehensive data (akalinks)

Sentences vs. fragments

Write what you know, link to the rest.

Jeff Jarvis
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/print-vs-online-content.htmlhttp://www.useit.com/alertbox/print-vs-online-content.htmlhttp://www.useit.com/alertbox/print-vs-online-content.htmlhttp://www.useit.com/alertbox/print-vs-online-content.html


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Print Style vs. Web Style

Internet vs. internet; Web vs. web

Linking style

What gets linked?

Live link on email addresses?

Full URL in text?

Bold, italic


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Structure

Inverted pyramid

Most important info (Five Ws) at the top

Able to be cut from bottom without losing story

This applies online, too but to attention spans.


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Structure

What differences do you detect?


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Voice & Tone

Consistency isnt just about

getting the spelling right.

Voice and tone give the publication and thestory a personality.

Maintaining a consistent voice helps create a

relationship with the reader. Voice and tone also color how a reader assesses

information.


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Differences in Voice

Chicago Tribune vs. New York Times

Gawker vs. Salon

Deadline Hollywood vs. Perez Hilton Groupon vs. LivingSocial
http://gawker.com/http://www.salon.com/http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/http://perezhilton.com/http://www.groupon.com/deals/bath-and-body-works-chicagohttp://livingsocial.com/deals/23326-50-off-american-cuisinehttp://livingsocial.com/deals/23326-50-off-american-cuisinehttp://www.groupon.com/deals/bath-and-body-works-chicagohttp://www.groupon.com/deals/bath-and-body-works-chicagohttp://perezhilton.com/http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/http://www.salon.com/http://gawker.com/


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Groupons Voice

Groupons voice is carefully calibrated

Use humor and the absurd Narrative POV, third person whenever possible

Avoid clichs & crutches

Avoid negativity
https://docs.google.com/View?id=dmv9rbh_2g92x4scj&pli=1https://docs.google.com/View?id=dmv9rbh_2g92x4scj&pli=1

Print vs. Web: Style & Structure

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