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Achieve editorial success online

27 Jul 2007

The best way to improve your editorial success online is to ensure that you're up to speed on how the Internet differs from more traditional media types. Online journalism is different simply because the way in which information is consumed is different.

The online journalist's key priority is immediacy. This is one of the Internet's biggest unique selling points. Journalists and editors are therefore under constant deadline.

An online newsroom will generally assign duty editors to specific sections of the website. These are referred to as channels or content hubs. The online journalist will then gather as much relevant breaking news for that content hub as possible from a variety of sources including newswires, readers or users, content partners and will also write stories when necessary.

The journalist decides on the best format for the story before placing it by checking to see whether it can be used across multiple platforms. These include a web page, interactive TV, mobile and newsletters. Research is generally done to see whether related stories have been written and whether it can be connected to any current or archived material.

Here are some top tips for improving editorial online success:

Visit the site before pitching your story, identify the relevant content section and conduct a quick site search to see whether related articles exist and collect the links as well as corresponding titles.

Because editors constantly rotate and each journalist receives an inordinate amount of email, I recommend a telephone call to find out who's on shift and their correct email address details.

Your pitch should be short and succinct.

Before calling, make certain that you have images to hand and that your story is ready to send. The Internet industry is generally short on images. It's best to send JPEG files of 72 DPI.

Remember that immediacy is vital, so send your email as soon after the pitch as possible and include your links list.

About Jannie Momberg

Jannie Momberg is the editor of News24.com. He has been working in the online world since 2001. Previous positions at News24 include day editor and interactive editor. Reach Jannie on tel +27 (0)21 468 8000.