Journalism is used to help with the explanation of events that have a significant impact on our lives. There are many styles and forms that are used and these will vary based on writers and companies or papers that journalists contribute to. There are basically five different types of journalism that are used today, and these include investigative, reviews, columns, news, and feature writing.
Here, we take a look at how the style of journalism vary when comparing the writings at the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal to the information found at online sites like E! News and Buzzfeed. You will find there are many differences between digital journalism and paper journalism and we discuss some of these major differences below.
Article Length
When it comes to digital journalism found at Buzzfeed or E! News, you will find that single articles are typically less than 1,000 words. They are designed to provide a fast read for the viewer as it can be frustrating to read articles that consist of multiple pages, especially when accessing sites on a mobile device. Longform journalism is more common in print, which is why you will find longer, and more detailed pieces in the Washington Post (such as this article on movie remakes).
Sourcing
This is another major difference when it comes to journalistic style and it all comes down to speed. With online writing, there are different sourcing standards in use since it is must easier to add a hyperlink to an article instead of attributing information to another source with print journalism. When it comes top publications like the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, readers want reliable sources to be cited to they can assure what they are reading is based on fact.
Pay and Quality Content
Online content is much easier to produce and comes with a much lower overhead cost, so in return, writers are often paid less for their contributions. This does not always mean that the quality of the information will be less, but you can deduce that writers for the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal are held to much higher quality standards than online writers.
As for the journalist themselves, there is much more to be earned through digital journalism. Online sites tend to publish more pieces more frequently, providing more opportunities for article submission and acceptance. With print outlets, there is less volume and fewer opportunities for the journalist. Leading publications like the Wall Street Journal will expect high-quality content created in a professional manner while online sites like E! News may lack in the standards that are set for writers.
Pitching Ideas
This is another area that has many differences for print and online publications. With a printed issue, authors are expected to spend multiple hours working on their stories and getting leads before they submit a pitch to the editor. With online publications, most editors are more concerned with quantity over quality and will want to know how much can be contributed in a certain time frame. In fact, a number of online publications like Buzzfeed will allow the author freedom to choose the topic on which they write.
With print publications, there are strict guidelines and subject matters, so authors do not have as much freedom when creating a compelling article.
As you can see, there are many differences in the styles and requirements between print and online publications. While the five styles of journalism apply to both forms, you will find these major differences highlighted above making a huge difference in the journalism industry. With more and more companies truing their attention to digital issues, online writing will be the wave of the future and the overall style of journalism may be changed forever.
