Web Design: A Poor Man's Way of Painting

In a society where style rules over substance, the aesthetic nature of an object is seen (no pun intended) to be more important than its actual purpose. It's important as a web designer to maintain an artistic perspective when creating a web page, but also to not lose focus on its content. Colorful, eye-catching visuals are nice to stare at for the first five minutes, but the value becomes lost if there is nothing else to hold the visitors' attention.

In James Glen Stovall's book, Web Journalism: Practice and Promise of a New Medium, he states three fundamental elements of aesthetic design.

• Type - the fonts and typefaces used to display the actual text; it has to be readable and fit the theme of the website.
• Illustration - the usage of photographs and other visuals throughout the website; nothing is more boring than a website with all text and no pretty pictures to gaze at.
• White Space - the "null" background space that fills up any area of the website unoccupied by text or graphics; too much or too little of this is bad as it can bewilder the eye of visitors.

Similar to designing a newspaper or magazine, certain themes must be sought and then maintained throughout the end product. Stovall considers consistency to be one of the largest factors in building a website as it establishes a website's identity and exerts a sense of order.

Like a painter criticized for his works, not everyone will appreciate the value of a webpage's design. It is important to appeal to as many visitors by accommodating their eyesight. This can be done by following certain techniques such as the strategically placement of bigger graphics versus smaller graphics, making sure there is contrast within the colors which adds visual appeal, and directional guidance (e.x. left to right text, up to down navigational links).

Making sure everything fits on a computer screen is also important. Horizontal scrolling is frowned upon as readers/visitors do not want to scroll back and forth after each break in the line. Vertical scrolling is much less irritating but if there is too much scrolling involved, the visitor may feel overwhelmed. Stovall suggests keeping the length of a front page to be very short.

While building a website, the webmaster must not compromise the simplicity of the website. Although technology is prominent in our society, it does not mean everyone is literate with its usage. There are still quite a few of people who are intimidated by the overwhelming technology, and the last thing on their mind is having to navigate through a maze of a website.

Stylish Editing on the Internet

It's been hammered home that web journalism isn't dramatically different from print journalism; with the main differences laying in the Internet's ability to deliver more dynamic content. With this extra power comes a greater responsibility as a web editor will need not only his/her fundamental print editing skills, but also to pay more careful attention for digital details.

In James Glen Stovall's book, Web Journalism: Practice and Promise of a New Media, he states in Chapter 6 that one of the main duties of a web editor is to know the special language of the Internet. For example, direct linking is much more effective than a "Click Here for my website." What's even more tacky is a literal link: http://theasianmuse.blogspot.com . The first method of linking allows for the best flow for any visitor who reads the piece.

Parallel to the print medium, it is vital to have flow within your digital writing. Usage of trite or cliche phrases, redundant sentences, and offensive language are frowned upon no matter who you're writing for.

And last but not least, accuracy: the most important element in any form of Journalism. Stovall lists his five commandments of copyediting for the Internet, with one of them being "Thou Shalt Do the Math." He says that numerical figures need to add up, logic cannot be faulty, questions must not go unanswered, and information must not be contradictory.

These points carry over from print news but many forget that pretend-journalists roam the Internet, giving web journalism a bad reputation. In order to establish credibility, web editors must not forget the basic fundamentals nor the specialty skills found only online.

The Argument on Evolution Stands!

To continue the discussion on James Glen Stovall’s book, Web Journalism: Practice and Print of a New Media, the argument still stands that web journalism is simply an evolvement of news in the form of print media -- NOT its murderer! Stovall breaks down the structural elements of news websites in Chapter 5…and they greatly parallel that of its print sibling.

• The usage of the inverted pyramid in both writing styles
• Same rules upheld for Headline writing (Stovall writes that the New York Times requires its online staff to adhere to the same standards its print headlines meet)
• Cutlines used in photographs for identifying, explaning, and elaborating on what the picture is trying to show
• Even on the web where it gives you links “to jump from the beginning of the presentation of information to where he or she wants to be” can be found in a newspaper with a “Continued in Section C5”
• Summaries are found in many newspapers, such as in the inside page of the New York Times where they showcase one-sentence blurbs on their tops stories
• Subheads, a sentence that foretells the general gist of the story can be found on both online and offline articles!
• Visual layouts are important in newspapers too, especially the rule of having at least five lines to allow for a columned paragraph.

The only real differences can be seen in having colored text as newspapers seldom have anything colored except their front pages or inserts. That is simply a limitation of resources on the part of newspapers...or else it wouldn't be shocking to see a more magazine-esqe look to newspapers! The USA Today is a great example of a newspaper which takes full advant

Showdown of the Century: Web vs Print Journalism

Sit back and think about the websites you visit everyday. The New York Times Online. The Drudge Report. The Connecticut Post Online. These three websites are examples of what can be generalized as web journalism as they possess all the necessary qualities listed in James Glen Stovall’s book, Web Journalism: Practice and Promise of a New Medium.

In the first three chapters of the book, Stovall describes the positive and negative differences between news media and how it has changed over the years. He cites the top four advantages in which Internet news has over Print News is:

Immediacy – being able to receive the latest news without having to wait for tomorrow’s edition

Flexibility – ability to incorporate different video and audio clips to accompany the piece

Capacity – no longer is an article limited to having only one or two images or news hole to fit as the Internet has a seemingly unlimited amount of space

Interactivity – consumers of the news can interact with a website. One real example in which Stovall talked about is an online game showcasing the differences between the old and new strikezones in Major League Baseball.

But digital news has its disadvantages, too, as resources can prove to be an obstacle. Many websites do not have the manpower necessary to carry its own dedicated online staff so it shovels news from its print edition onto their website.

For those who do not know, Stovall defines on page 16 that shovelware is “the practice of simply shifting content produced by the organization for another medium (newspaper, radio, or television) to the website with little or no change.” It’s done in order to give the company a presence on the Internet while the news consumers are the ones who get screwed due to the high degree of redundancy.

From the rise of radio, to the emergence of moving imagery on television, and now to electronic text on a computer screen, newspapers are now doing everything it can to preserve its livelihood. However, digital news should be seen more as an evolvement of print news rather than its murderer as they share almost all of the same fundamental writing qualities:

Impact – how many people does the news story involve?

Conflict – A clashing between two or more parties always makes for an interesting read.

Currency – Viability of the news; how truly important is this piece of news?

Prominence – The number of recognizable people involved in the story such as a celebrity or well-known politician.

Unusualness – Out of the ordinary stuff that happens adds a different spice onto the story.

Proximity – how close the story happens to your home (ex: a fire that burns a house down in California isn’t as interesting to a Connecticut reader as it is to someone who lives in California).

Timeliness – news that happened recently is worthy of being written about.

One local example of a news organization which has more than a simple online presence is the Fairfield Mirror – Fairfield University’s independent student newspaper. They release a few online exclusive articles on most Mondays and Thursdays, as well as their print edition every Thursday. The website actually receives more about three times the amount of hits than the newspaper does with hard copies being picked up.

Although print news is currently able to coincide with digital news, don’t be surprised if news becomes fully electronic. Already are many businessmen loading the daily news onto their Palm Pilots and cellphones, or picking up the news on an audio CD (the San Francisco Chronicle, for example) with someone narrating the top stories. That is just step one towards a true paperless society.

A New Teaching Tool

Imagine being able to watch a class lecture from the comfort of your own home. With Sonic Foundry's Mediasite software, it allows you to record a video and during playback, the video clip is side-by-side with another form of electronic communication (such as a Powerpoint slide).

The technology was demonstrated during the March 1st RCade workshop by Fairfield University's Media Center technician Peter Sarawit. He was recording his own workshop presentation while displaying a Powerpoint slide on the other side of the computer monitor for the audience to see.

Another cool feature of Mediasite is being able to videoconference with another location that has the software installed. More specifically, a meeting held in one office can "call" another office that has a meeting going on, and have the two meeting groups communicate together. Think of it the same way as using a telephone but with crisp, fluid video. This ability to videoconference with people anywhere around the world is done so by using the H.323 protocol, known to many as Voice over IP.

The focus of the workshop was not solely concentrated on Mediasite, as the intent of the workshop was to expose the audience to new types of technology that has yet to catch the mainstream’s attention. Mr. Sarawit also touched upon Podcasting, a new ability from Apple that lets anyone record video and/or audio and publically release it through Apple's iTunes software.

This allows for a media consumer to download the video/audio clip onto his or her iPod and listen to it at anytime they wish. Podcasting is rapidly becoming popular as many people are using it to voice their opinions on hot-button issues such as the Iraqi war. One can think of it as a poor man's radio transmission.

These new forms of communication will help the educational environment as instructors are able to teach students even if they are not on the same continent.

Mediasite can allow a student to watch a class lecture if he/she is studying abroad in another country. It will also let the instructor and student communicate and see each other's faces through the digital spectrum. Podcasting would allow for students to listen to class lectures right from their iPods while walking to class, or grabbing a bite to eat.

These types of technology can also help to serve as an archive of past lectures, perhaps one day building a database similar to that of Wikipedia. A database site called Mediasite.com already exists as it lets you view every public presentation created through the Mediasite software.