Writing for the Web

Journalists have to be ready to fill a number of roles within a newsroom. One of them is writing web-original content.
Some of the general guidelines of web news include: concise, specific, to-the-point, easy to navigate, links, lists and timely updates. Many of these overlap with good ol' fashioned news-writing. Some are clearly different.
The Collegiate staff had an opportunity to do some Web-original content when staff members learned the morning of March 20 that Grand Rapids Community College President Juan Olivarez announced he is resigning to take a position in Kalamazoo. After some confusion and discussion, staff members rallied to get the Web site (Collegiatelive.com) updated by the afternoon. It included a photo, short story, a list of past GRCC presidents and a bio.
The content was timely and mostly well done.
The biography came directly off the GRCC Web site and should have been cleaned up for news style, with much of it condensed. It was too flowery. A link to Wood TV8, with video, also seemed unnecessary - it steers readers away from The Collegiate Web site. That's not a good idea.
Overall, I was impressed with the quick and well-planned coverage of this major news story. It's not easy to get the Web side of news right - this came pretty darn close.