1What is online journalism? - Ayo Menulis FISIP UAJY

184 Journalism Online
Complexity
Static
Dynamic
Functional
Time and money
Interactive
Figure 7.4: The inevitable, yet changing, relationship between
content, complexity and cost.
close down, pull the plug, find a large box with a lock . . . and put
your PC in it.
There is nothing to stop you playing with ideas on screen or
building prototypes, but your design process should not be driven
by this. In any case, as mentioned in the preface, there are many
manuals to guide you through the mechanics of applying web
authoring software. This is not one of them.
Instead, we must concentrate on the large number of fundamental
questions and issues you need to consider before you set
one finger on the keyboard. Only when you have thought about
these carefully will you be in a position to communicate your
ideas/message/news clearly. So give your computer a holiday.
Instead, get a large supply of paper and pencils, an eraser and, if
you want to be really hi-tech, some sticky-back reminder notes.
If you doubt the wisdom of this, spend half an hour surfing the
web, looking at the web sites of small to medium-sized companies.
You will find scores, hundreds, thousands of sites that do not
work. They lie there, rusting hulks – moribund, neglected,
unloved and unvisited.
These sites may have been ‘designed’ in-house by the IT team
or even by outside consultants because the companies felt they
needed an online presence. Too often, however, the emphasis is
on bells and whistles (they impress the Chief Executive) rather
than users and content. These companies made a fatal mistake.
They never invested in that large box with a lock for the critical
early developmental stage.