New Media and the Slow Death of the Written Word

In “New Media and The Slow Death of the Written Word” by Mark Zeltner the author proclaims his love for newspaper and providing reasons for such love but at the same time he has come to terms and has accepted that a new media, the computer , has been introduced and is quickly taking over the word provided by newspapers. With this realization of the popularity of the new media Zeltner has provided ten basic rules for students learning to write for the new media.
Zeltner in his piece started off by expressing his love for newspapers stating that he loved everything about newspapers, from the well organized information it provides to the feel of the newspaper in his hands. He realized though that most people under 25 hate s newspapers and prefer television and his plan has been to convince much of his students as to how interesting and great newspapers could be.
Zeltner then proceeded to give his arguments as to why a newspaper was better than a computer screen. The first point he made is that computers are hard on the eyes, as no web version of a newspaper can offer the ease of access of a newspaper and allows for one to scan headlines easily to choose articles to read. For me I think its much more easier to scan a computer screen than a newspaper. The computer provides quicker links that is just a click away that can lead to where one want to go. With newspapers however although there’s table of content one tends to have to skip through multiple pages to find what one wants.
Zeltner also mentioned the fact that one could not fold up a computer screen and carry it around in a book bag which can be done with a newspaper. While this is true, technology has made it possible for one to access the information on the computer that can be carried around in a bag. There are laptops, internet phones and the list goes on. What I agree with though was the point he made that one could use a newspaper to line the bottom of a birdcage which a computer screen could never do.
Although Zeltner made it clear that he prefer newspaper over the new media he was very open to discuss the advantage of the new media. He made mention of the introduction of hypertext links that can allow writers to construct new styles of writings and that the use of audio and video clips can enhance a story and give it greater meaning than before, which I definitely agree with. The use of audio and video clips can provide a better understanding of a piece of work and make it more enticing to read.
Zeltner also states that even though there’s the introduction of the new media, there will always be an audience for newspapers. I truly agree with this. Different people have different likeness. There's still going to be that grandpa or mom or even that student who’s going to prefer the newspaper over the computer. But while he says this he believes the new media can attract new audience. I think the new media can attract those audiences who always hated newspapers and may prefer information on the computer and may find it more interesting and appealing.
Mark Zeltner also made the point that the new media is not truly a “new media” but it is also made up of old traditional mediums and the writers just change up the style of writing making it more appealing. The Author provides us with ten basic rules for students learning to write for the new media which he believes can serve as a guide for new media writers and producers.
In the first rule the writer made this statement and I quote” you want to write for the new-media then forget about word-count, concentrate on content and squeezing the value out of EVERY word” end of quote. He talks about making one s writing short and precise and ensuring that al the main points are stated. I agree with the writer as sometimes less is better because sometimes when we write long pieces one is just writing about the same thing over and over just expanding and expanding when one had already made the point in the first few lines. Reading long pieces of information can also tend to be very boring and one tends to lose focus and attention, what Zeltner is saying to us is that we should be very precise and to the point but at the same time ensuring that one is on point and the piece is well written.
In the second rule the Author talks about the idea of scrolling versus clicking and when to use the former or the latter to ensure that the reader wants to read one’s writing and wants to continue to read to the end. He talks about how scrolling can be hard on the eyes and can lessen the readers understanding of what they are reading and at the same time he talks about clicking which can also create problems as it can be stressful for a reader to wait for a file to download via a slow modem connection. The solution the author provides is for a writer to be aware of the content of one’s work and find the right medium that is appropriate to ones work and at the same time ensuring that whatsoever one decides it will attract readers to the work.
I also agree with what Zeltner talks about in his third rule. He talks about the fact that one who's writing for this new media should plan ahead before even typing a single word. One should fully plan out ones thoughts and information so as to ensure that the reader is captivated and is not bored and is unable to miss the important part of one's work. Writers should also enable for the readers to have a sense of freedom, to treat the writing as how one choose.
A picture is worth a thousand words or when to embed images and when to just write is the fourth rule. The author talks about the use of pictures as a means of enhancing one's work ,as they give the work a little color and fun.Pictures can also lessen the amount of writing for the writer as a picture can create a sense of what the writer wanted to say. However while images can be good, too much can cause problems as the images may turn away ones focus from the writing. One should not spend too much time on pictures because as one doesn’t know how they may look on individual computer screen and this can turn away a reader from a piece of witing . What I disagree with though is that pictures don’t always have to be downloaded by the reader, the writer can just upload the pictures without the reader having to download it.
“The sound of a person's voice can often convey more meaning than a hundred pages of written quotes from the same individual”. This is a line from the forth rule where Zeltner talks about audio, where the tones of one voice can elevate the written word. When one listen to an audio clip it allows for the listener to have a sense of how one feels and give a sense of the mood of the reading whether it is happy, sad or anger. At the same time a dull, dreary and boring voice can take away ones attention from the piece and it would hav been better if the writer had just written everything. While the author talks about the use of audio as a means of enhancing ones writing one should not depend on it to tell your story and it should not be too much that it distract the readers or turn away the reader from the writing. Mark Zeltner also talks about video clips as a means of elevating ones work in the sixth rule. He mention the point that digital of more than thirty seconds can be very tiresome to watch and can distract the reader from the main purpose of the writing. This can be very true but at the same time once video clips are interesting and very insightful people when its finish will want to read on to find out what will happen next. Video clips can give one a visual understanding and interpretation of a text and it makes the text more factual and believable.
In the seventh rule Zeltner talks about the use of footnotes and creating one’s own definition and description pages rather than creating hyperlinks that allows for readers to go to another page to find meanings and descriptions. I believe that hyperlinks allow for readers to be distracted from the work and allow for one to wander away from one’s work, but why should one need to find the definition of a word instead the writer should just make the words simple and easy to understand.The author went on to talk about the dangers of hyperlinks in the eighth rule. He talks about the fact that when a writer allows for a reader to hyperlink off one’s document the reader doesn’t always tends to come back to the text. How I see it is as long as a writer makes his piece interesting no matter the hyperlinks, readers maybe force to go back to the reading to find out what happen next. He also mentions the use of sidebars as a means of supporting or explaining what one said in ones writing. He talks about the fact that sidebars shouldn’t be too enticing that it would allow the reader to wander away from the main document and to never return.
The last rule Zeltner talks about the importance of both content and form. While content and form makes ones work more striking and engaging and give that urge to continue reading at the same time they must not be too distracting but just right.
For the most part Mark Zeltner made some great points but there were few things that I didn’t agree with.