“New Media and the Slow Death of the Written Word”

“New Media and the Slow Death of the Written Word” by Mark Zeltner describes the minimizing usage of newspapers by the new generation and the shift to new-media and the internet for shorter, simpler news reports. Even though the author loves everything about newspapers, that is not necessarily the case for all others; especially in our times where the media and the internet is becoming such a popular hot spot. The author seemed frustrated when he realized that he wasn’t able to easily convince his students that traditional newspapers are better than the “new media” of the internet.

Eventually, the author recognizes that even though he loves the old text and the written word of newspapers, there are certain features that “New Media” provides which enables writers to expand their narrative styles -such as, hypertext links. Some people opposed this idea though. For example, Sven Birket states that computer-mediated texts will make a person too lazy to read or appreciate traditional texts and literature. He also strongly believes that the medium in which a certain text is being conveyed “conditions the message considerably.”
Mark Zeltner realized that the “New Media” is, in fact, beneficial and can assist in appreciating old texts. Zeltner developed ten basic rules, from his own past experiences in both writing and new-media documents, to help guide beginner students in the field of new-media writing.

The first rule is to “Keep it tight: short paragraphs, simple active sentences, treat every word as a rare and valuable jewel.” In other pieces of texts “length equals quality,” however, with the new-media the most major rule is to keep your stories short and to the point. For example, the common way of IM chatting and texting has even shortened words by removing letters from it.
The second rule is to “Break your text into appropriate "chunks" for reading, be aware of content when deciding between click or scroll.” This rule advises new-media writers to be extra careful in not losing their readers interest by regularly making them click to new pages or screens.
The third rule is to “think in modules, preplan possible paths for your reader, and insure that important information is difficult or impossible to miss”. Our generation has been classified with low attention spans. In order to keep a reader involved and attracted, it is important for the writer to clearly state the significant facts and ideas of the piece so that the reader may see if he or she is interested to continue. The writer must foresee the direction he wants to send his readers. I definitely do agree with this rule. I think that it is very important for the writer to keep his readers fascinated, with a desire to continue on reading more.
The fourth rule is to “Use images mostly to convey messages that you cannot convey with words and use thumbnails to link to higher resolution images.” It may be difficult at times to accurately portray a person’s feelings and emotions through words, however a picture can do so within seconds. The color, excitement, and freshness of a picture of beautiful pink flowers in a garden will give over a more satisfying feeling to a reader than just a plain description.
The fifth rule is to“Use audio clips judiciously, don’t distract your reader but use clips to add to their experience.” This is also a fundamental rule- although, I believe that it could have just been combined with the fourth rule. It mainly just continues to play on with the same idea that adding an audio clip will add more emotion and meaning than just a bunch of words.
The sixth rule is to “Use desktop video sparingly, use primarily to convey a mood or present a person’s style or demeanor--not for content.” Again, I would combine this rule together with rules #4 and #5. They are all techniques of giving the reader a deeper experience while reading the piece of writing, so that they will be able to comprehend a specific mood or atmosphere more appropriately. I agree with the author on the point that new-media writers should keep videos short.
The seventh rule is to “Link all footnotes, create your own definition and description pages, and don’t hyperlink off your document.” I totally agree with making all footnotes linked back to a bibliography page and to the specific reference text. This gives the reader the opportunity to check the validity of the writers words and references with the ease of just the click of a button. This advantage is not found in old text, print documents.
The eighth rule is to “Use hyperlinks off your document sparingly, gather your related links in the appendix of your document.” This rule appears redundant where the same idea was stated in the seventh rule. The main point of this rule also seems to be repeating rule #1 and #2- which explained that readers’ low attention span forces writers to be more brief and to the point, rather than giving over long, boring pieces.
These ten rules illustrate that the “New Media” is not damaging the future of the written word, but rather making it a more widespread and significant part of our lives today. These rules add texture, excitement, and interest to the old-fashioned written word.