Part of my job involves recruiting material for our homepage to keep it fresh and timely, working with staff to develop Web-ready articles and appropriate graphic elements, and getting the “products” to Faye for posting. Paul (my supervisor) and Holly (my ally and sounding board) collaborate on this venture.
So, what makes a good homepage feature?
First and foremost, it should exemplify clean, easy-to-understand prose that people find interesting to read, that delivers on the promise of its title and opening lines, and that shows awareness of and respect for readers’ needs.
The homepage itself doesn’t have a specific, carefully targeted audience. Its audience includes anyone who comes to the page. Ideally, writers should use links to direct various reader groups to related materials that might interest them.
Because Internet users experience Web pages as places they go to, travel around in, and leave, writers should work to create a special ambiance that connects to New Hampshire people and piques the interest of anyone who drops in for a visit. Even if they just cruise in and out without reading anything all the way through, or don’t have an interest in the specific topics, site visitors should leave thinking, “Hey, I want to come back here soon.”
Writing for the Web allows you to write a little and point to a lot. The hyperlinked Web environment gives writers the power to introduce a topic, then open it to vast realms of territory, letting readers themselves make their own travel plans.
Links can lead readers to pages that clarify, offer history, add context, provide nuanced or highly technical detail, reveal contradictory points of view, satisfy different learning styles, permit discussion, foster collaborative research, and more.
Research shows that professionals/experts enhance their credibility on the Web as much by what they point to as by what they themselves write.
The Web uniquely empowers all users to respond, publish, comment, review, critique, and add their own ideas, as well as to build both ad hoc and enduring communities of discourse, planning, research and action. This capability approaches the ideal of engagement the Kellogg Foundation has suggested as the key to survival of the land-grant universities and the cooperative extension system associated with them: two-way, even multi-party communication to which each party brings knowledge, skill and experience and in which each individual participates as both learner and teacher.
Done well, our homepage can serve our visitors’ needs for timely information, while simultaneously serving other purposes. Some of these include:
Tomorrow I’ll introduce some specific elements of the ideal homepage feature.
Many people think of op-eds as expressing strong, one-sided opinions. Often they do. But an op-ed essay can also give voice to the voiceless, illuminate key sides of an issue that others have missed, or help readers understand multiple perspectives on a topic. Some of the best op-eds simply provide compelling facts intended to elevate the level of public understanding on all sides of a hot topic.
You, your volunteers, or your clientele might consider writing an op-ed, for instance, when you want to mobilize community energy and attract resources to an issue of broad public concern, or when you want to introduce the plans or the work of a community coalition.
Tips on writing a good piece and helping ensure it gets published:
A few more tips:
Among the most-read sections of most newspapers and many newsletters, the Letters to the Editor section gives you (or your clientele) a chance to present your perspective on an issue and its relevance to your community, praise a volunteer or a colleague, or promote a coming event.
Because many newspapers and newsletters publish most of the letters they receive, your letter stands a good chance of getting published. A campaign that encourages your supporters, volunteers, or clientele to write letters could prove more effective for promoting an event or program than sending out a generic press release.
Before you sit down to write, learn the newspaper’s word limit on letters to the editor, then stay well within it. If you don’t edit down your letter, someone at the paper will do it for you. (Warning: Newspapers generally don’t edit out mistakes. Meticulously scrub your letters for spelling, grammatical, and other errors.)
Some papers have a Board of Community Contributors, a My Turn, First Person or Voice of the People column that lets local people sound off in a longer space with a more prominent placement on the editorial pages. People who become known for writing strong, thoughtful letters may find may it easier to get one of these longer pieces published.
Draft your letter, making your main point in the lead sentence and following up with one or two supporting points. Keep your focus narrow.
Keep your tone civil and respectful, avoiding sarcasm and personal attack. Write with power:
If you have credentials or experience that adds credibility to your voice, work them into your letter or your signature.
If possible, let your letter sit a few hours before you send it. Ask someone you trust, preferably someone who doesn’t know much about your topic, to read it for coherence and tone, as well as for grammar, syntax and “flow.”
Many Extension professionals work with clientele who need ways to publicize events or articulate their points of view to community-wide audiences. Almost all of us work with people who feel frustrated that their own perspectives on the topics they know something about and that matter to them never seem to get represented in mainstream press accounts on the topic.
Why not encourage them to write letters to the editor? You could even set up workshops where people can learn the basics of writing a good letter, draft letters, and/or read and comment on each other’s letters before they submit them for publication.
Among the most-read sections of the newspaper, the Letters to the Editor section gives a paper’s readers as chance to become writers. A letter to the editor can present a particular perspective on an topic, criticize the paper’s coverage of a topic, or rally community support for a cause.
Because many newspapers publish most of the letters they receive, each letter stands a good chance of getting published. People who become known in the community for writing strong, thoughtful letters may find it easier to publish their work in the community op-ed (opinion-editorial) sections many papers have instituted, sections with names such as Community Forum, Voice of the People, My Turn, or First Person that give local people more space and a more prominent place on the editorial pages sound off.
A few tips you can pass along (or use yourself):
• Before you sit down to write, learn the newspaper’s word limit on letters to the editor. Plan to stay well within it. Remember, if you don’t edit your letter, someone at the paper—typically a harried editor with little or no knowledge of your issue—will do it for you.
• In your final draft, make your main point in the lead sentence and follow up with one or two supporting points. If you have credentials or long experience that lends credibility to your voice, mention it in your letter or append your credentials to your signature.
• Always keep your tone civil and respectful, avoiding sarcasm and personal attack.
• When citing facts, document (or make sure you can document) your sources. Especially when questioning published facts, back up your point of view with facts accepted by a broad diversity of credible sources.
• If possible, let your letter sit a few hours before you send it. Ask a couple of people you trust, preferably folks who don’t know (or care) much about your topic, to read it for coherence and tone, as well as for grammar, syntax and “flow.”
Posted by pboyles at 12:30 PM