Workshop: Writing for the Web with Jon Bernstein

Workshop Friday 9 October 2015, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Standard £150
Freelance/Student £125
Members £100

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With more than 16 years’ experience in digital journalism, pioneering website editor Jon Bernstein will lead a day-long workshop on writing for the web. You will gain an understanding of the principles of writing for the web, how it differs from print, how to establish a successful blogging persona and why the headline must work much harder online.

In this interactive session, attendees will be given plenty of opportunities to hone their craft. The workshop is ideal for new and emerging journalists, established journalists making the transition from print to web and communications professionals seeking to extend the reach and impact of the written word.

The principles of writing

  • Why writing for the web is exactly the same as print; and why it’s completely different
  • Understanding the audience
  • What Orwell can teach us about language and readability
  • Establishing the right tone of voice
  • Determining length and frequency
  • Five writers who understand the digital form

News and feature writing

  • The inverted Pyramid of news and why it still matters
  • The Five Ws of News
  • Finding a killer angle
  • Reporting vs opinion
  • News vs Features
  • NEWS WRITING EXERCISE

Blog writing

  • The ‘atomised’ Inverted Pyramid
  • When is a blog not a blog?
  • Five blogging personas
  • Seven blog writing tips
  • BLOG WRITING EXERCISE

Headlines and social media sells

  • Why headlines and sells matter more on the web
  • Tailoring headlines and sells for the web
  • HEADLINE WRITING EXERCISE
  • Ten headlines that work online, and ten headlines that don’t
  • SEO: An introduction
  • A practical guide to keyword research

JB_200x200About the trainer
Jon Bernstein is an award-winning journalist, editor and digital strategist. He was deputy editor, then digital director, at the New Statesman; multimedia editor at Channel 4 News; ran the Channel 4 FactCheck website during the 2005 general election; editor-in-chief of Directgov, working in the Cabinet Office’s eGovernment Unit; and editor-in-chief of dot com start up and technology website silicon.com. In 2011, he was named Website Editor of the Year by the British Society of Magazine Editors for Newstatesman.com.

Images via Shutterstock.com / a6photo and Jon Bernstein



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