Times are evolving and the internet is slowly but surely pushing printed news to one side, leaving itself a clear path to the future of how people will gather their news.

Every media organisation has had to move forward with this evolution by producing websites in order to continue competing in their market.

If you have even bothered to read to this fourth paragraph (all will become clear later) then the rest of this article will try to help those journalists who are struggling to make the change from printed to online journalism.

The Reasons for the Nets Popularity

There are so many reasons for why people are now looking towards the internet for their daily fix of news.

The Web is constant and can be updated at the touch of a button when needed, compare this to a newspaper which is out of date the second it is printed. By the time it hits the newsagents most of the stories are old news to those who have already logged onto the internet in the morning, or even the night before.

Add to the convenience of being able to access the internet wherever you are as long as you have the correct device, when before people would have gone out of their way to buy a paper you have to of the main reasons why the net has boomed.

Websites also have the luxury of being able to use audio and video to capture their audience on top of pictures and text which is all newspapers have to offer.

Fact

• Web users will generally ignore any unnecessary information on screen.
• A massive 79% of people who read pages on the internet will simply just scan the page instead of reading it word for word.
• Of the small percentage of people who read 100% of an online article they will actually only take in 75% of the content.

Why?

• When reading from a computer screen the process is 25% longer than reading from a paper article.
• Computer monitors increase eye strain and fatigue much more that a newspaper does.
• Web users want to find the information they require quickly and easily if they cannot do this then they will not waste their time looking for it.

Tips for Journalists

The longer the text is for an online article the more you are reducing the chance that readers will actually perform the important act of reading it, so keep it short!

Try and tell your story in the first four paragraphs, that way you will hit the reader with everything they need before they even have a chance to look away.

Long blocks of text are for newspapers so stay well clear, break your text up by using headlines, sub headlines and captions in order to capture your reader.

Whatever you do though do not substitute your style for high-quality journalism, so remember your facts but do not put too many in the main body of your text. Make them attractive to the reader by putting them in a snazzy fact box separate to your text.

Finally it is a general rule that online text should be 50% less than what it would have been if it was published in a newspaper.

So if you remember anything from this article then it is to keep your paragraphs short and snappy, try and keep them below four lines where possible.

But keep your sentences shorter.

Facts and figures taken from the Nielsen Web Writing Research Report.

I would like to recognize a few of my great colleagues as well as let my readers know what is in the works for 2009. My dear readers I would first like to recognize the following writers who have given me much to think about through both their commentaries and their writings over the last year.

Judy Sheldon,Nelson Doyle,R.B. Parsley,Poetic Enigma,you all are great people and gifted writers, I thank you for being a continuous inspiration. I would also like to recognize Ralph Brandt,and Keyboardologist. Keep up the great work dear friends in the coming year.  To those not mentioned here, know that you too are appreciated as well. My fellow authors have become like family to me, God Bless you all.

I would like to let you all know that I have begun publishing work  here, feel free to go check those out.

Dear readers,colleagues,friends,and even critics....I thank you all again for making my journalism experience one to remember. 2009 will be an exciting year, as you can see at the previously mentioned website I have begun publishing an online arts magazine, wish me the best with that endeavor, and may the inspiration and creative juices keep flowing.

Happy 2009.

Due to its nature, plagiarism is most likely to occur in two major fields: the academic and the journalistic. In the academic field, the plagiarists may be students seeking an easy way of doing their term papers. It could also be professors or lecturers trying to avoid the tedious learning curves of academia. Either way, when found out, the culprits are liable to face up to academic censure. In journalism, plagiarists can be sanctioned with anything from a mere suspension to a termination of their professions.

With the advent of the internet, plagiarism became much easier - a simple copy and paste process. But simultaneously, anti-plagiarism entities upped their game, using the same internet conveniences to hinder this vice. Nowadays, there are many internet tools used to detect plagiarism. Google is probably the most well known among these. A major search engine, Google's vast potentials lie in its in-text search capabilities. This means that not only does Google search headings, but it also searches within web pages for words or strings of words. Hence a plagiarized piece of work having some unique phrases can easily be picked up using Google.

There are other online soft wares and sites that are used against plagiarism. The site Turnitin.com is widely recognized in this respect. Other private companies include Word Check Systems, iParadigms, and CaNexus.com. All of these use word processing soft wares, which basically divide long documents into fragments, which can then be searched across a wide online database. In this way, some companies boast of the capability to check documents against a billion other “high risk” WebPages.

With time, governments themselves are stepping in to curb this plagiarism vice. The Federal Policy on Research Misconduct, put in place by the Federal Office of Science and Technology, provides a legal recourse for individuals and institutions caught with such misdemeanors. Institutions thus found guilty may have to deal with a lack of grant funding from the government. Individuals can be charged with civil or criminal fraud.

From a personal point of view, plagiarism is one of the worst crimes that anyone can commit. Born mostly out of sheer laziness, the vice ultimately makes everyone a loser. The real owner of a particular idea or thought never gets the credit he or she deserves, and any associated royalties. Years of research can be laid bare by one unscrupulous plagiarist. At the same time, the plagiarist loses out on the chance to create new material and add to the overall body of knowledge. And while it may feel like a quick fix solution to deadlines in the short run, in the long run, the risks associated with plagiarism are simply not worth it.

The insidious stealth of plagiarism makes it the ultimate crime. More often than not, the real owner of the intellectual property does not realize the loss until too late, and even then, may be at a loss on what recourse to take. The prevailing sanctions against the vice are mostly not effective enough, and need reworking to match up with the seriousness of the crime.

Changes in journalism have been fuelled by technological advances. Almost every new application in communication has affected the way people get their news. Yet, the newspaper still remains a very powerful tool of influence and persuasion.

The electronic media(cable television) has overtaken print journalism not only because of its extensive reach and coverage but also bacause of its speed in reporting. Today news across the world can be broadcasted live, networking the remotest parts of the globe.

Like all other fields, journalism has spawned a whole new world of 'specialization'. Now there are career options as a press reporter, crime reporter, political correspondent, fashion journalist, film and gossip reporters, social, agricultural, cyber media, science and environmental writers ... the sky is virtually the limit here.

The resources available to launch aspirants into jouranalism are indeed huge. There are colleges and universities that confer degrees in journalism and sponsor research in related fields such as media studies and journalism ethics. Many institutes provide a range of online journalism training courses and workshops.

JOurnalism provides a perfect avenue for those seeking to express their creative and writing talents.

For example; the phenomena of politics in pop-culture and the “cool-status” that eventually drowns out the meaning for it to ever exist. I propose that when being anti the contemporary American political infrastructure becomes mere conventional wisdom, it loses all power, or strength, or whatever you want to call it. When children in high schools mockingly laugh at the single one pupil in the classroom who does not believe the president is a lunatic, but when asked why they hate him, can only reply, “Well, duh, he's messing shit up …” you know you must surrender to the idea that all you have left to hope for is that the next four years will be better to us, and maybe - just maybe - these kids wont be stuck so rigidly on the belief that the system is evil, that when something good rolls around, they won't apprehend it.

The hard thing about writing for money, is that you are most of the time expected to top whatever other journalists are doing; or to take a week-old story a bit further towards something like proper substantiality; sometimes to reinvent an idea no more than two days old; or maybe to simply write an article, more than somewhat similar to something you wrote three years ago only now better, all so that one editor can win a bet with another to prove his journalists are still advancing. I suppose the hardest notion for anyone to submit to, is that he is a whore; and what really drives most men & women out of this profession is the verity that their passion, if any is left of it, now belongs and flails in the whims of someone else's fleeting hopes of keeping a boat rocking over the next wave. What I'm trying to say with this is that once your words are worth money they become cheap. A sheer commodity; your tears and blood deteriorate into a measly plug in the hull. You're forced to sweat, and then you're asked to go do it again.

There is an acerbic notion about writers; one that provokes self-doubt and grows out of the sweat of those who die with each word; those men who must pound every last one sentence into the blank space, who in comparison to the natural scribbling genius resemble a mere brute - like a farmer who couldn't become a sailor before fighting the sea. It is the notion of that brute himself, which pains him the most, of watching from his crumbling alcove the fundamental assuage with which his fellow writers prove well substantial social theories whilst he labouringly dwells in a limbo of perpetual uncertainty on his capacity to matter.

A journalist I met said that aside from a considerable fragment of the national press corps dodging what potential dangers are constantly looming at the end of each story, there was a genuine fear among writers today; paranoid sweats that stunk to high heavens about what could be the next steep turn in the road of the journalistic society that they had all been a part of shaping and moulding to fit their own kinks and agendas until it had by now become an uncontrollable erratic being itself, which swayed closer to cave in with every breeze, all of them wondering who would fall off next if they didn't keep changing it around to harmonize with the social storm they had cooked up long ago.

“The aftermath is indeed us,” he said. “And we are first and foremost the ones to suffer it.”

Perhaps the fundamental importance of journalism lies not in what it reports on, but why we care to write of it. The chance is that of the common man and woman not so much feeling the need to get their heads around every piece of fact pertaining to a single affair, but instead driven by a subconscious urge to in the course of comprehending the basic reasons for a distant war, for example, create for themselves a platform from which they can evolve their own thoughts and beliefs concerning other elements of their reality.

Possibly it is so that man needs to see people who care enough about what goes on in the world to write about it; that someone worries about what one man does with whatever power is invested in him half-way around the globe; to inspire others' trepidation about what does not directly effect them. It could be that journalism and the written word in general is an important piece in humanity's vital yearning to as individuals help one another achieve understanding that will ascertain our continued evolution.

Maybe, subconsciously, have power been given by the people to the ladies and gentlemen of the press in high hopes of bringing to a close a lurking deterioration towards repeating our historical mistakes of power mongering, lying, pride, and placing the wrong men in charge of the red buttons

I started online writing with Triond in August of this year.  I love how you can publish pretty much anything that you can come up with.  There are some rules and regulations that need to be followed though.  Triond has a strict policy of publishing only original material.  They will not publish anything that they believe is a duplicate of content posted elsewhere.  I've got mixed feelings on this.  Of course they do not want to plagiarize another writer's work or infringe on a copyright.  However, I've found that they are a little too overenthusiastic at times about what is considered "duplicate" work.  A couple of times they have rejected my content because it had a similar title to another article out there even though the body of the article was about a completely different subject!  I was able to work it out with them through emails back and forth fairly easily though.  Triond has been great about keeping up an ongoing communication with me as a writer.

Another rule of publishing with Triond is that it is not obscene.  Their version and my version has differed on occasion though.  For instance, when I was publishing an article about quotes of various musicians, I quoted Ozzy Osbourne.  As most of you can attest to, Ozzy is very fond of the F word.  I thought that putting stars over every letter except the F would be okay.  It was rejected.  I actually had to put a star over the F as well.  I think this is perhaps a bit much.  I understand that there are readers and writers of all ages here, my son is one of them.  I really think that he could handle just seeing the letter F though.

The final rule of Triond that I've had problems with is not producing content that is overly commercial.  I had tried to submit an article about a commercial on television.  It was about a Zellers commercial where they go through all of the letters of the alphabet with things you can buy from the store.  My article was mainly an explanation of all the letters because I couldn't figure out a couple for quite a long time.  I was unable to publish it though because they though it was too promotional or commercial.  I was really promoting shopping at Zellers, I was just talking about the commercial itself.

One of the things I really like about publishing with Triond is that you can publish all types of content -- anything from text articles to pictures to audio files and videos.  I've found that readership of text articles is much higher than that of pictures but I love that you can publish in practically any form.  From poetry to pictures of your cat to reviews of what you watched on t.v. last night.  It definitely helps keep the creative juices flowing.

Triond is an online community of writers.  You can make "friends" and "fans" on this site to help you gain a wider readership.  Readers will often leave comments too on your articles which can really help  you to improve your writing, learn others opinions and come up with ideas for other articles.  I really like receiving comments and try to writer comments on other's work as well even if it's just a "Great Article" or "Keep up the Good Work".  Sometimes I have more to say than other times but if I write great article you can be sure that I actually mean it.

The best part of publishing with Triond, of course, is the money.  You are definitely not going to get rich quick here.  I've made about $25 in about 3 months.  The more you write, the more you make.  It may just be pennies at first but those pennies do add up quicker than you'd think.  And your articles just keep on making money after they're published.  I've found that sometimes articles lose their popularity and sort of fall off of my radar.  And then a few weeks later, they are rediscovered and start earning again.  It's the neatest thing to think that I'm actually making money just from my thoughts and writing efforts.  Sometimes Triond will publish your article on an outside website.  They have done this with one of my articles so far.  That article has gotten 13,500 views!  My most popular article that was published on a Triond website got about 4,000 views so that's a huge difference.  I'm not sure what the qualifications for your article to be offered to an outside website.  I wish I did because then maybe I could be published outside again!  It is definitely worth it even though you lose some editorial control.

Helium

Helium is another online writing website.  Here they provide the titles for you to write to.  They only publish text only articles -- you cannot even illustrate your ideas with pictures which I've found quite annoying.  Once you have written to an article, it is rated by other Helium users.  Their rate section has two articles of the same title for the rater to read.  You then choose which one is better in your opinion.  You can say one is worth slightly more, more, or substantially more than the other article.  I do not really understand this process although I've been looking at it pretty extensively for the last couple of weeks.  I guess how well your article does depends on what other users think of it.

Helium has a "Marketplace" where websites looking for content advertise what they are looking for.  Again, you have to write to titles already provided.  Each publisher has a list of qualifications for each offer and an amount that you could potentially earn if your article is chosen.  I've found that the marketplace is not exactly full of offers.  At the moment, there are less than ten offers to buy articles there.  You could potentially earn quite a bit of money though.  I've seen offers anywhere from $10 to $160!  Of course, the offer for $160 had alot of articles written for it.  The content that they are looking for is quite varied so that it is possible for anyone with any skill set to earn some money here.

They also have writing contests that you can write to.  These seem to be mostly about topics that have not been written about very much.  These submissions are then rated against others in the category.  The first place winner gets $60, 2nd gets $40 and 3rd gets $20.  There are twenty titles in each category though so it's pretty tough to get in the top 10, never mind the top 3.

Your articles can be bought by people looking for content and they could get exclusive rights or just the right to use your article.  I'm not exactly sure how this process works though.  I don't like that it is vague about how money is earned.  It's nice to know that your efforts are paying off even if it is very slowly.  When you write and write and earn nothing, it can be quite discouraging.  Especially if you're not sure why you're not earning anything or what you could do differently.

I'm going to keep writing for both sites for now.  Triond is definitely my favourite at the moment though.  Being able to use pictures in the articles is a major plus to Triond.  Some things are almost undescribable with words alone.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words for a reason.  I also like how transparent the money you're earning at Triond is too.  There is never any doubt as to how much you are owed at the end of the month.  Helium has more earning potential.  But it's just that, potential.  I'll keep you posted as time goes on and my views on the two sites are updated.

I must admit that I was a little bit “hurt” when Triond editors sent me a message saying that my last article was declined for publication. This was the third time that I got this kind of message. Of course; I accepted the editor's decision. After all, I am just a new writer trying to learn the trade and besides I have no control over the editorial policies of Triond. But I am sure that Triond editors will entertain some criticisms so long as they are constructive.

Declined Articles

The latest article that I wrote was about Antarctica, a continent that is considered by many as the coldest place on earth. It took me two days to research on this article and I cannot understand why it was declined for publication. I believe that no matter how you present the facts about Antarctica, your article will always be similar to the others who have written about the subject because you just cannot twist the facts, like its land area, temperature, geology, events, etc. The facts and figures are historically and scientifically derived.

Not satisfied about the reason why my article on Antarctica was declined for publication, I searched the internet for other articles about Antarctica, not only on Triond but in other online publishers. I found out that there are many articles written about Antarctica and I am of the opinion that they are almost similar to each other, simply because the facts are the same. What is important, I believe, is its originality and how it is presented by the writer.

The other article that was declined for publication was about funny-looking signs or billboards, with Chinese and misspelled English characters. Triond editors gave the same reason why it was declined. Again, I searched the net and found out that most of the images that were the subject of my article were also the same subject of the other writer's articles. Why were they allowed to publish these images? And why mine was declined? Certainly, the texts accompanying these images were not the same as the others because they are based on ones concept or idea of humor. What is funny to you may not be to others.

One of my other articles that were declined by Triond Editors was about Smoking. The reason why Triond editors declined its publication was that they found the images contained therein as offensive. I tend to agree with the editors because I really chose the most offensive images to convey the message that chain smokers will likely suffer the same fate. The reader will think many times over before burning the next stick.

I intend to do some revisions on these articles and resubmit them for reconsideration by the editors.

Hot Content List Front Page

Whenever I find time to browse, I always make it a point to read all ten articles found in the front page of the Hot Content List. I had a pre-conceived idea that these articles are indeed quality articles. I noticed though that there are some articles included in the front page of the Hot Content List that do not deserve to be in the list. First of all, there is not a single comment at the comments section of the article. Secondly there is a very low number of “I Like It” count. Lastly, there are other articles in the succeeding pages of the list that are far better than the one that is positioned in the front page of the Hot Content List. I had one article that recorded almost 30 comments and about the same number of “I Like It” count. But it never landed in the front page while some articles that do not contain any comment at all and with just about two “I Like It” count, landed in the front page.

I understand that “page views” is the measure of the article's popularity. But how can an article be popular when no one commented on it and nobody clicked on the “I Like It” button? Is it because the title of the article is “catchy” that the reader is enticed to click on the title? If this is the yardstick, writers may just as well come up with “catchy” titles to get more page views in order to land in the front page of the Hot Content List. This may not be a good basis for judging a quality article.

Again I do not question the prerogative of Triond editors. I am just looking for answers to my questions on the selection of articles that should land on the front page of the Hot Content List.

Image Submission Problem

In my short stint with Triond, I tried to come up with articles that do not need images to drive a point to what I am trying to convey. But in most cases, articles that carry appropriate images are better appreciated by most readers. On many occasions, I found some images that are muddled or even reduced substantially in size as seen in most of my articles. Before submitting my articles with accompanying images, I normally spend so much time arranging or resizing the pictures or images, only to see them all muddled up when the article is finally published. I am not sure if other writers have experienced this image embedding problem, but it did happened to my articles many times in the past.

Popular Writers

I think more than half of the writers whose articles landed in the front page of the Hot Content List are really good and deserving writers, as they produce quality and well researched articles. They include RJ Evans, Nelson Doyle, Liane Schmidt, Robert Soloria Bermosa, Lauren Axelford, Anne Lyken Garner, Chan Lee Peng, Virniel Cutar, Kristie Leong, s hayes, Athlen Green, Sydney Hazelton, Evis T., Catherine South, Louie Jerome, Unofre Pili, Valli, Acecampillo, Darlene McFarlane, Allison West, Jo Oliver, Dave Cool, among others. I am sure that these writers will continue to produce quality contents because they have built a name for themselves which they will have to protect as seasoned writers. I wonder though why these great writers do not comment on the other articles that are included in the front page of the list that do no not deserve to be there in the first place. Maybe it's their way of saying that these articles do no deserve to be in the front page at all.

At times, I feel sad that some articles produced by these great writers are languishing in the inner pages of the Hot Content List while articles posted by some relatively new writers have landed in the front page of the Hot Content List. I wish to encourage my esteemed popular writers in Triond to browse on all ten articles found in the front page of the Hot Content List to find out for themselves some articles do not deserve to be in that list.

The Good Side of Triond

When I stopped submitting new articles for publication, I feel sad because it was here where I had my first article published. But I needed to try writing for other publishers in order to come out with intelligent comparison. I submitted several articles to 3 other publishers and I have started making good page views. In the process, I cannot help but compare the ways of these publishers. I found out for myself that Triond is the most writer-friendly site. There are no complicated rules or procedures. Submitting your content at Triond is so easy compared to the other sites, where you are asked to refer to two or three pages of FAQs for answers to your questions.

Another good side of Triond is the camaraderie of writers. In my short stay with Triond, I made many friends with diverse educational and professional background. They provide kind and encouraging words to new writers like me. Some of them would even try to greet me on my birthday.

In summary, I believe that my happy or pleasant experiences with Triond far outweigh my sad experiences. And for this reason, I have decided to continue writing for Triond and to do so for as long as my content submissions are accepted.

The trick to finding just the right sources for a story is creative searching. And with that in mind, here are a few ideas for source hunting:

Eyewitnesses

If you're covering an event, look at the people who have gathered to watch, since they might have seen something useful or important. Don't be afraid to strike up a conversation with them; you never know what you'll discover. You'll want to be careful to not believe everything eyewitnesses say, however, since they're notoriously unreliable. Check with more than one eyewitness, and try to verify their statements or observations with other eyewitnesses and public officials whenever possible.

Participants

People participating in an event can provide an insider's perspective, since they've been at the center of the action. Ask what they've seen, what they've experienced, and what they think.

People Affected by an Event or Issue

They might not think of themselves as sources, but the people in a community who are affected by an ordinance, disaster, or other event or issue are valuable sources. Think creatively about these sources, looking for unexpected effects and impacts.

Professional and Trade Organizations

Every profession and trade has its own organization, and often these can be contacted to find representatives of that profession.

Profnet

This is my favorite Web site for expert sources, including scientists, businesspeople, college professors, consultants, and many others. After registering, you can search the database using keywords related to your story, or you can request that a query detailing your specific needs be sent out to all experts on file. Within a day or two, you'll generally receive several replies directly to your e-mail address.

Public Officials

Depending on your story, law enforcement, the fire department, or elected officials might be good sources. Their offices will also have a wealth of public documents, which can be invaluable, as well.

Sources That Lead to Other Sources

When conducting an interview, you can always ask one source for other source recommendations. Most people will have good ideas for other sources.

Web Searches

Use keywords related to your story, and you'll many businesses, organizations, and people who might lead you to good sources. When you find a site that interests you, look for its “Press,” “PR,” or “Contact Us” page to find e-mail addresses and phone numbers. And remember, even if you're writing a story for a local publication, your sources can be anywhere; they don't need to be limited to your region.

Yourself

Sometimes, you're your own best source, particularly with first-person, participant, or immersion journalism. If you want an in-depth look at a place, event, activity, or issue that you're involved with, you might consider throwing yourself into it and seeing what you discover. After all, there's nothing like first-hand experience for writing colorful and realistic portraits of people and places. If you want to write about truckers, think about riding along with one or even becoming one. If you want to cover an underground group, you might want to get invited to few meetings. Just remember, this kind of reporting isn't appropriate for every publication, and you'll want to make sure you clear it with your editor before embarking on any immersion journalism project.

In short, newsworthiness is whatever an audience wants. And what people will read, view, or watch is determined by what they care about, what they want to know, what will help them in their daily lives, what will speak to them in some way about things they care about.

Traditional journalists have a set of criteria they use to evaluate the newsworthiness of a particular story: timeliness, proximity, impact, unusualness of the event, conflict, prominence of the people involved, necessity, and currency. Newsworthiness is not necessarily determined by an event or issue having all of these attributes. In fact, it might only have one, but you'll decide that makes it important enough to cover.

Let's go through each of the criteria for newsworthiness, focusing on the ways citizen journalists might use them:

Timeliness

Timeliness means that something has happened recently - the more recently something happened, the more newsworthy it is. Thus, something that happened this morning is more timely - and more newsworthy - than something that happened last week. Timeliness has come to mean something much different in the age of the Web, when people expect to have their news updated each second. A news item can quickly become out of date with the posting of someone else that offers more recent information. It's therefore vital that the news you post on your blog - or submit to news organizations - be as timely and as frequently updated as possible.

Proximity

The fact is, people care about things that happen nearby more than they do things that happen far away. The proximity of something is a large factor in determining its newsworthiness. Proximity is generally considered geographical - something that happens in one's town, county, or state, for instance. But it can also be emotional - something that happens in a distant place but has an effect on people locally, such as a soldier who grew up in your hometown and was killed in Iraq. What counts as “local” has also been changing with the development of the Web. As a citizen journalist, you have the opportunity to cover hyperlocal news - news not just about your town, but about your neighborhood, your workplace, your street. In fact, you are in a better position to cover such news than many professional reporters, since you live in these communities and you know what's happening in them.

Impact

The more people affected by an event or issue, the more newsworthy it is. How much does something impact people? And how many people does it impact? Even when you're covering hyperlocal, neighborhood news, you'll want to think about impact when you consider what to cover and how to cover it. A lost cat, in other words, might impact only one family in the neighborhood, but a broken water main could affect everyone. The broken water main, then, would be considered more newsworthy. On the other hand, a house fire might affect just one family, but it would affect them so significantly - would have so much impact on them - that you might consider that newsworthy even though it might not affect the whole neighborhood.

Unusualness

Whenever something happens out of the ordinary, it's got news value. People, towns, and cities all have a sense of routine, dailiness, and normality - and anything that disrupts that routine is potentially newsworthy. Thus, to take the example above, a broken water main would be newsworthy not just because of its potential impact but also because of its unusualness. Keep your eyes out for other unusual events; they happen all the time, and they're almost always interesting to your audience.

Conflict

People like to hear about a good fight, and for that reason conflict is one of the criteria for newsworthiness. This can be as significant as a war, or as relatively minor as a conflict between neighbors. Conflicts come up in court, in town council meetings, at school board meetings, and on soccer fields. And wherever they come up, there's a potential news story.

Prominence

This criteria refers to how well known someone is. The more prominent a person is, the more newsworthy their actions and words will tend to be. Prominence is relative to the community involved; prominent people might be anyone from the President of the United States to the mayor of a small village. So it's important to know the prominent people in your community, and to keep an eye on them. What are they doing? What are they saying? Most likely, your readers or viewers will want to know.

Necessity

Perhaps you, as a citizen journalist, think the public really needs to know about your city's new tax code, or the fact that a factory has been fined repeatedly by the Environmental Protection Agency. These sorts of stories come under the criteria of “necessity.” Such stories often involve other criteria for newsworthiness, but they might just come from your sense that the public needs to know, and you need to investigate.

Currency

Currency refers to an ongoing issue - such as a long court case, or poverty, or domestic violence - that suddenly comes into the public spotlight because of a new event - a judge's decision, or a family evicted, or a person killed. Journalists say, in this case, that the issue has gained “currency.” Look around your community and come up with a list of ongoing issues, long-standing but important topics. Keep this list on hand, and look for current events that might warrant bringing these issues to light again.

As a citizen journalist, you're not required to satisfy any of these criteria for newsworthiness. The fact is, though, you'll have more readers, viewers, or listeners if you think about the newsworthiness of the stories you cover. There's no magic equation with these criteria; not all stories meet all of them, though most good stories tend to meet at least one.

The more you think in terms of newsworthiness, the more you'll be on the road to building an audience for your work.

Last, as one would expect, there has been a significant change in the appearance of the ABC News website. It looks more professional, more polished. It's interesting to see how these fundamental changes in the site interact with one another. For example, the development of technology clearly fuels the change in appearance, while it also gives news reporters a wide array of ways to cover major focal areas such as Iraq and the White House. Furthermore, the increased coverage of war news changes the look of the site. Each of these three major trends comment on how journalism itself has changed in the last several years, and how major events such as September 11th, the war in Iraq, and Hurricane Katrina have brought about these shifts.

I chose to compare today's abcnews.com to that of a month or so before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 because those attacks were the first of many momentous events that have occurred over the past five or six years; the war in Iraq, the close presidential race of 2004, and the Hurricane Katrina were among the others. Each of these events helped shape how media function today. The attacks on the World Trade Center, and the ensuing war in Iraq, have certainly left their mark on the abcnews.com. As one would expect, post-9/11 America discusses Iraq more than any other foreign nation. So much so that Iraq news commands its own section of ABC's international news page (ABC News, 2007).

The site's “Iraq In-Depth” component is a new addition relative to it's 2001 embodiment. Likewise, stories about Iraq are more predominant on both the home page and world news page today than they were in the summer of 2001 (ABC News, 2001). This is important to note because an increase in Iraq news results in a decrease in other global news, which means our knowledge of other nations declines. This is something newsreaders must be aware of. To think that the U.S. and Iraq are the only important nations on the globe is a very narrow perspective. Such an approach blinds us to important issues in the world such as genocide in Sudan.

While the number of stories about Iraq has certainly spiked, certain genres of writing, regardless of specific content, have also emerged. The government's responses to the string of crises that have hit America leave plenty of room for the recent surge in opinion pieces in the news. Such pieces are far more prevalent on today's site than they were just before September 11th(ABC News, 2001). The current ABC News website has an entire section called “Blogs and Opinion” (ABC News, 2007). The significant events of the past five or six years, both positive and negative, were all dealt with, at least in part, by President Bush and his administration. The more the government has on its plate, the more chances it has to garner praise or condemnation.

Thus, with so much going on, the press has had many big opportunities to opine. Furthermore, the media have had more chances to report on how the American people feel, and then give its two cents about that. Additionally, this has caused certain members of the media to voice their opinions of their colleagues. Liberals will criticize conservatives and vice versa (Hargittai et al.). This has all come together to generate a considerable change in what proportion of the news is opinion and what proportion is fact. This increase in the level of opinion reporting is another element of modern news that media consumers must be aware of. Newsreaders separate what is fact and what is opinion or their view of the world will be skewed. Since the days before September 11th, the amount of opinion has definitely increased.

Another type of writing that has increasingly made its mark on abcnews.com is attention-getting sensationalism. The “It's Outrageous!” section of the ABC News front page provides evidence for ABC's recent affinity for sensational news that captivates readers. Headlines such as “Rapping Squirrel Takes on Poetry” (ABC News, 2007) show just how far they will go to command attention. In 2001, there were very few unbelievable stories like this. In a world where fewer and fewer people are reading the news, even a major news organization like ABC will spice up their content to attract readers. Nowadays, when the news has to compete with shows such as “Fear Factor” and “Survivor,” the most recent debate in Congress will not have readers on the edge of their seats. A story about a man with a twin living in side of him just might do the trick.

As always, however, the motivation for such stories can also be traced back to the big happenings of the last half dozen years. The never ending barrage of war stories, bombings, and political feuds has newsreaders wanting a change of pace. Enter sensationalism. The increase in all of these types of content - Iraq, opinion, and shocking news - comment on what journalism has become, and what it might be in the future. Journalism has become more about commentary and entertainment than about straight facts and news. Whether this trend grows or declines is important because it influences the news we receive. Newsreaders must be aware that some topics will get a larger chunk of a news organization's attention and coverage, that some of what we read is opinion, and that some news is more for entertainment value. If we do not keep these concepts in mind, the value of reading the news diminishes and we are less knowledgeable about the world we live in.

The change in content has been espoused by a change in media tools. Podcasts, enhanced video technology, blogs, and other developments have changed the way news is recorded and delivered. News reporters jumped on the new technology of podcasts to bring news to people in a new way. People can download or stream audio files of news reports and listen to them at home or on the go. Not everybody has the time or the will to sit down at his or her computer and read a full article. Listening to the podcast of your favorite writer while you get ready for the day or while you take care of some household chores helps save time. The advancement in digital video and photo technology has made the Internet a great place to get news stories told completely by video footage or by photos (Abrams et al., 1995). ABC News's story about “x-ray oddities” (ABC News, 2007) is much more informative and compelling told by photos of the x-rays than by a writer. The ability to scroll through pictures at your own pace and jump back to one you liked is a feature of the internet that cannot be matched by print news or television broadcasts.

Blogging is another recent Internet trend that has changed news distribution. The increase in opinion oriented news pieces goes hand in hand with this surge in the use of weblogs, or blogs. With new software that makes blogs easier to update, archive, and change (Hargittai et al.), news organizations have adopted this new gimmick very enthusiastically. It is important to note this idea of certain changes in the news telling process driving or supporting others. Realizing this conept allows us to recognize new trends and be aware of changes in how news gatherers deliver the day's stories. Being aware of the trends and changes that shape the news media environment will help us get the most out of our news.

News blogs are also a symbol for another very important trend in Internet news: interactivity. Looking at the front page of abcnews.com from July 20th, 2001, there is a little section in the bottom left hand corner titled “Interact” (ABC News, 2001). Flash forward to today's incarnation of abcnews.com and words like “vote,” “message board,” and “discuss” are everywhere, in every section of the page (ABC News, 2007). Additionally, readers can post comments after reading each article and the comments all appear at the bottom of the article. This feature is not available in the 2001 version. Today's ABC News website also offers a chance to subscribe to emails and breaking news alerts. Nothing of the sort was available in 2001. In its 2001 form, abcnews.com did not come anywhere close to the level of interactivity that its 2007 counterpart boasts. Interactivity has become a large part of American and world media (Garfield, 2006). The combination of new Internet technology and the significance of individual opinion have fueled the population to become hungry for interactivity. Newsreaders crave the ability to present their thoughts, and hear those of others.

Finally, the refining of media technology and a change in the concept of important or newsworthy content have led to a radical change in the physical appearance of the ABC News website. The look of the site is more professional and polished. The colors are not as bright and alarming, the graphics are not as angular, and the links look like plain text instead of the typical bright blue underlined font. Furthermore, stories are neatly categorized, for easier navigation. One last trend in physical appearance of the site is a change in the nature of advertisements. Due more to media consumers' tireless avoidance of advertising than to changes in content or technology, the new look of ads on abcnews.com is still important to look at because it affects our news experience. The ads on today's ABC News site are bigger, appear more frequently, and blend in much better with the actual news. Many of the advertisements look like pictures of, or links to, other stories. This is a function of marketing schemes that try to catch the reader off guard (Croteau & Hoynes, 2003). While surface differences in ABC's web site seem to have little to do with content and other more significant elements of news, they are still pertinent because what our eyes see as they scan a web page, and the ratio of news to advertising can effect what web sites we frequent and, therefore, what side of the story we get. If a bombardment of ads on one site sends us to a competing organization's site, we might read news slanted a slightly different way.

It is clear that the changes in the ABC News web site - in content, in technology, and in appearance - interact with and drive each other. The emergence of blogs has fed the growth of opinion related news, which in turn has increased the popularity of blogs. News stories of government action toward crises like 9/11, and political happenings such as elections, elicit floods of opinion, further adding to the blog fad. The increase in the frequency of such stories also affects the look of the site; it changes what pictures are shown and how stories are organized. All the elements of Internet news intermingle and spark change in other components. The face of internet news, as evidenced in the change in abcnews.com between July 20th, 2001 and the present, will continue to chang as significant events in the world, such as the terrorist attacks of September 11th, change what we talk about, how we talk about it, and, thus, what tools we use to present the news.