AP Style changes to website

I saw a status update on Facebook saying that AP style "gave in" and changed Web site to website, so I did a google search and found this. The update will be published in the new edition of the Stylebook, which is being released next month, and it was changed today for the online version. I was curious to see what the rest of the class thought about the change? Is it necessary? Is it a good thing or a bad thing? I know I've gotten marks on assignments for writing website, rather than the old form, Web site, because it is commonly written as one word. If you do a google search for "Web site," it will say "Did you mean website?" When I say "website," I think of it as one word, one thing that generalizes a bunch of possibilities, not a proper noun referring to one thing that should be capitalized. I like the change, although as a broadcast journalist, it does not affect me as much. I think the print journalists (who are much more accustomed to writing Web site) will have a much different opinion than I do.

Another aspect of the change I wanted to address is how will it affect other words that contain "Web?" The new listing says, "Also, webcam, webcast and webmaster. But as a short form and in terms with separate words, the Web, Web page and Web feed." I would assume that if the word is not specifically listed here, like website, webcam, webcast and webmaster, then it should be Web blank. Would this be correct? What are other examples, not given in the post, of words that could be unclear? Do you think that eventually, all of the words will change to webpage, webfeed, etc.?

One good and one not-so-great headline

Surprisingly for a publication which originated in print, WashingtonPost.com generally does a very good job of writing suitable headlines for the web.
For its home page and various section pages, the post tends to write brief, attention-grabbing heads. Its story pages usually carry longer headlines which include the terms a reader would plug into a search engine when he or she looks for the story.
A case in point is the April 14 Metro page headline "Tea Time" which leads the reader to a story about tax day protests. The story page carries a much longer headline which reads "Tea party activists protest high taxes, excessive government spending in D.C." - thus hitting all the relevant terms anyone could possibly want to plug into a search engine.

Again surprisingly, web-only publication Slate.com is extremely prone to cutesy headlines familiar from print. Case in point: "Nebraska feels your fetus' pain," the headline for a story about a new abortion-related state law in Nebraska. Apart from "Nebraska," that headline does not contain any of the relevant search terms. Thus, while it will definitely grab the attention of a reader already on the site, it is unlikely to show up at the top of a potential reader's search results.

Sounds like a loser to me

As Linda pointed out in her post, headlines that are too cutesy or rely on puns (no matter how clever) just are not suited for the Web. When a headline appears as a link with very little (or none) of the story's text beneath it, that headline should be clear and concise enough that the reader knows what that story is about.

This was not the case with a headline I found on Salon.com today; "Heads bankers win, tails we lose." This cute but foggy headline appeared on the News page of Salon's site. The sad part is, when you click for the full story, the headline that appears is "Banks, bankers and the new political economy"-- so much better, right? It may be a little general, and not nearly as adorably snarky, but it lets you know what the story will be about. The wise choice would have been to have the cutesy headline after the click. That way, they get to use it, and more people might actually click the link since they know what the topic of the story is.

Headline Wanted

I do my news analyses on the Jerusalem Post, and while looking for a new story to look at I came across this headline: Olmert 'wanted' posters for investigation?

Someone tell me, did he want some posters for an investigation? Even though the "wanted" is in quotes it still doesn't make sense in the sentence. He himself didn't want posters, the police are simply using them for an investigation.

A better course of action would probably have been to say "Police use Olmert wanted posters for investigation" or maybe not even have Olmert in it. Maybe even not use the wanted and just say "Olmert posters". The wanted just makes the whole thing sound weird.

Also why is there a question mark at the end? The story is saying they are trying to find out who made the posters, not who Olmert is!

A not-so-adept headline for the Web

I know this headline writer at the Bowie Blade-News, so when I had to find an example of a not-so-adept online headline, I knew where to look!

The headline reads: "There's lots to 'spell-abrate' at Tulip Grove"

Obviously, "spell-abrate" is a play on words, meaning "celebrate."

According to Foust ("Online Journalism," p. 135), "cute" headlines, ones that use wordplay, tend to fall flat online. While this headline is very cute, I agree that it falls flat online, especially when online headlines need to be more literal for search engine optimization.

This headline writer taught me a thing or two over the years about headline writing; now I can share with him about online headline writing!

Citizen journalism site gives voice to underreported countries

I was intrigued to discover All Voices, a relatively new "citizen media" newswire service (started in 2008) looking to expand into 30 countries that it believes aren't getting enough coverage from traditional media.

According to Mathew Ingram's article, "Citizen Journalism Startup Plans Global Expansion," the Web site has grown by over 400 percent in the past year and now has 337,000 contributors in 180 countries generating 4 million unique visits per month.

What a wonderful way to put citizen journalism to use. In the United States, we suffer from information overload on a multitude of topics ranging from Tiger Woods to Michael Jackson. How nice to put these information-gathering resources to use in a more positive way so people in other countries--such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Egypt and China--can be informed on topics that affect their lives.

As an unedited and unfiltered open-media reporting form, Allvoices has established a "Report Credibility Rating System" indicating the trustworthiness of the story, which readers find useful when sorting through uncensored media reports.

Upon analyzing the design of the Web site, I think the site should move its "Images of the Day" up to the top of the home page, since they are larger. I guess the 4 million people who look at the site each month aren't too put off by the design, however.

Headlines: The bad, the good, and the ugly

A headline's goal should be to capture the tone and meaning of the story.

This headline from Sunday's Washington Post does neither: Johnnie-Mid seminar breaks social impasse in Annapolis. Huh? Based on that headline alone, that story could have been about a million different things. My best guess that was I was about to learn about the middle parts of a guy named Johnnie who held a miraculous summit to overcome the austere social rules governing Annapolis.

As it turns out, the story was about none of those things — thankfully. I read on to discover a delightful tradition, where students from St. John's College and the Naval Academy — two polar opposite schools that sit blocks apart — gather for an annual summit to discuss a book. This year they read Anton Checkov's "Gooseberries."

As for a good headline, I like this one from The (Baltimore) Sun: "Late-inning collapse dooms Orioles in 5-2 loss" It's search engine friendly and tells you precisely what's happening in the story.

Finally, this headline, which I found on a journalism web site is truly ugly: "Governor swears in legislature."