Online Writing Exercises

Online Writing Exercises


1) Go to a news web site and see if it measures up to these criteria for online writing:

San Jose Mercury News

a) Do the news items reflect immediacy?
Yes it's items do reflect immediacy, with articles from almost every genre as wsell as breaking news, locally and nationally.
b) Does the site try to help readers save time?
yes and no. yes becasue the site is sectioned off in to different genres so readers can find related articles with ease, however, it does seem to be a bit cluttered with some unwanted columns.
c) Is it quick and easy to get information?
yes very easy to get the information you need. but to get the full experience of the news web site, readers must pay for the entire service or they stop the reader with a registration window.
d) Does it provide both visual and verbal information?
with the breaking articles the website shows both visual and verbal information, however for the other, maybe less important, articles dont get such luxories.
e) Do the stories contain lists and bullets to make them easier to scan?
yes the stories do contain lists and bullets that make it easier for the readers to understand, however there are also advertisements that are scattered within that could make it rather difficult for the readers.
f) Are the stories broken into “chunks”?
yes the stories are broken into chunks, so that the reader is not overwhelmed with information.
g) Do stories provide hyperlinks to additional information?
some stories to provide hyperlinks to additional information, some just end as they are.
h) Are there opportunities for readers to "talk back"?
yes, with some stories, mostly statewide, nationwide, and some locally.
i) Does the site use multimedia to enhance understanding and add appeal?
the site does use some, however, not enough to gain more appeal with the very multimedia driven generation of adults that are coming to the news era.