1What is online journalism? - Ayo Menulis FISIP UAJY

112 Journalism Online
intro, that’s what. The first paragraphs. These are the most
common cause of stress and anguish in young journalists who
have to write them and older sub-editors who have to read them
(and rewrite them).
Writing good intros is not easy. As Waterhouse (1989) points
out: ‘The first paragraph has to contain the essence of the story in
perhaps 25 words.’ Then, just like our pyramid, the story
gradually fans out, using the same principle to expand on the
essence in the next three or four paragraphs.
What goes into those initial paragraphs takes on added
importance when writing for online. People often scan stories on
web pages. They want to get to the point quickly. Also, stories can
be ‘top-sliced’ (using the first few paragraphs) for distribution to
mobile phones and personal organizers. To assist this, BBC News
Online have their ‘4 par rule’. The Online Journalist (2000) is the
BBC’s handbook for their News Online journalists. It states that as
much vital information as possible should go into the first four
paragraphs of a story, including context and background, This is
to ensure that the story will make sense if the first four paragraphs
are read in isolation. Also, each paragraph should have a clear
purpose and simple structure. Journalists should limit themselves
to one idea per paragraph.
This discipline becomes particularly important when you
consider that journalists at BBC News Online are set a word limit
of 400–500 words for main stories in their entirety (those in the
top three of its index) and 250–350 words for other stories. Not
much room for the unnecessary or the convoluted. As The Online
Journalist explains:
‘All stories should be written in a clear and accessible manner
– we are writing for a general audience and a global one. We
must not assume too much knowledge. The importance of
the story – why we should care – needs to be flagged up early
on, as should the impact on ordinary people. Spell it out every
time!’
So the beginning of the story – the intro – is critically important.
But how do you choose what goes in it?