New Media and the Slow Death of the Written Word

The media is something that always changes especially in our day and age with the technological advances society experiences. Mark Zeltner addresses the pros and cons of media on the internet, a topic that everyone is closely observing lately, in his article "New Media and the Death of the Written Word." Zeltner argues that while the internet is not a newspaper it isn't any better nor any worse, only different. The internet's media is a vast growing world that allows writers a new form to express themselves. In addition Zeltner states that the internet allows for writers to place in videos, sounds, and images which help to reinforce their arguments. The only way for media over the internet to be a downside is if writers abuse their new "power" and "freedom" and lose their readers in unorganized and distracting articles. Zeltner lays out simple guidelines to prevent this from happening.

Zeltner's guidelines to proper utilization of new media are very useful for any online writer. They are very similar to rules regular writers follow for old media as well. They are the basics to any form of writing, just geared towards the online world. The first few rules Write Tight, Writing a Screenful, and think in modules, all have to deal with the organization of the page. These rules are very effective. Nothing is more important than keeping the attention of your readers. Writers often forget to be concise with their writings and fail organize ideas in a relative flow. In most cases they tend to go off on tangents or create these never ending works that become tedious. Zeltner does right by stating to keep it short and expressing the need for quality over quantity. Another good point he brings up is the proper use of visual reinforcement. It is good to have images, sounds, and videos that further prove the point of a work. It makes it look more real and true. However the placement of it in a work, as Zeltner states, is key. The placement of it could distract a reader and make them lose sight of what the work is about. All of these arguments are sensible and focus on keeping the reader's attention.

Zeltner makes many good points in his rules but that doesn't mean there aren't a few that are controversial. The hyperlinks and sidebars he states help support the work as a whole. This can be a major disadvantage to a writer in reality. Hyperlinks and sidebars draw attention away from the work and distract the reader. This is the very thing the writer is trying to prevent by following these guidelines. This proves they are far from flawless. This rule should be modified. As opposed to placing hyperlinks, footnote definitions, and sidebars in the middle of a work, all that needs to be done is create a bibliography section at the bottom with the sources hyperlinked. If the reader is that adamant about finding the sources of information they can scroll down to them. As for definitions there is a vast number of ways to find them out on the internet that will not inconvenience the reader much. It is not the writers responsibility to inform them of the terms used. An idea that the new media should have a guideline for is titles. New media is a contrast to old and one of the old traditions of media is clear cut dull titles. With new media the idea is to catch the reader's attention which in this case would be through a "catchy" title.

New media and old media are different and similar at the same time. They both express ideas and demand the same deal of organization and appeal to grab the reader's attention. In general the basics of any writing apply to both. The key differences though are convenience for both the writer and reader as well as the wide variety of items that can be added into an article for reinforcement. A newspaper can include certain pictures but certainly can't carry a video or any form of sound. By proper application of the writing guidelines any online writer can achieve the same level of writing as any newspaper or even better.