1What is online journalism? - Ayo Menulis FISIP UAJY

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end. This is a linear construction. The beginning leads to the
middle, which leads to the end. The story is written or recorded
to be consumed in that order. If you break that relationship, for
example by starting to read, view or hear the piece halfway
through, you cannot expect to understand fully what then
follows.
Before we look at online story construction in detail, let’s just
familiarize ourselves with the best known and most widely
accepted model for traditional linear news story construction. As
we will soon see, it might still have its uses.
Yes, the pyramid
Intros
Anyone familiar with journalism textbooks will know all about
pyramid structure, used for news stories in newspapers and
broadcasting. Quite simply the essence of a story should be
placed at the top of the pyramid, with further development and
amplification of the main points below, before finally tapering out
to a base of background material.
Some people use the model of an ‘inverted pyramid’ – a pyramid
standing on its head. Along with Wynford Hicks (1999), I can’t
understand the reason for this. The model works far better in the
normal upright position with the wide base at the bottom. In that
way the pyramid shape, from the top down, reflects both the
importance and the amount that will be written. In the inverted
position, it only reflects the importance (the biggest section being
at the top). Please do not write introductions that are fifteen times
bigger than the background material at the end of the story.
The pyramid shape offers two benefits. First, the reader can get
the essence of the story by reading just the introduction. Second,
newspaper sub-editors, pressed for space and time, can cut
pyramid shaped stories from the bottom up and not destroy their
sense.
So, what goes into the apex of the pyramid, or to use a more
modern analogy, the nose cone of the rocket? The all-important