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Morgan Williams
Writing 2
S. Kneece, Wed
10 April 2016
Online News vs. Blogs
When it comes to keeping up to date on environmental issues, people rely on the internet
and its endless amount of content. Digital books, scientific reports, and essays are all online
genres brimming with data, statistics, and perspectives that are perfect for educating oneself. The
problem with these is reading them is very time consuming. In this fast-paced world, people
simply do not have the time mull through the newest academic journals on a daily basis. Online
news articles and blogs are two popular online genres that condense the most important
information of current events, and fashion it into one brief, easy-to-read piece. When it comes to
keeping up to date on environmental issues, people rely on the internet and its endless amount of
content. Online news articles and blogs are two popular genres of writing that are sought out by
people who want to become more informed on the environment. While both genres do inform,
they differ in the type of information they provide, and they way in which they provide it. What
do nightwing and this intro have in common? They fine.
Online news articles have an audience that seeks out their content. Regular article readers
want to be informed on current events as well as the state of the global environment, but do not
have the time to mull through lengthy research reports that give the same information. Therefore,
authors have to be concise when recapping their complex topics. A variety of conventions are
used to achieve this, including cited evidence from published studies and reports, quotes from
researchers and community members, and pictures documenting what the article is discussing.

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Just discussing.
Like online news articles, environmental blogs have an audience that seeks out their
content to learn. Posts are often centralized around eco-friendliness, lifestyle changes, and
becoming a smarter consumer. For these subjects, the audience benefits from the author being
succinct, organized, and credible, but also personable. have an audience that seeks out their
content. Regular article readers want to be informed on current events as well as the state of the
global environment.To accomplish this, posts are broken up into sections and subsections,
written in first person, and include stories of the authors experiences and beliefs. Together these
conventions establish an intimate mood and provoke the reader to reflect their own emotions and
morals. Now lets look at how the way a piece is written helps the author achieve their overall
goal.
Damn girl you so informative
The types and forms of information included are conventions of content, and the structure
of the parts writing are collectively called conventions of format. Content is the major reason
why the audience decides to read a piece, but many different types of writing have the same or
similar content. Therefore, formatting further differentiates one genre of writing from another.
The two together help from and distinguish one genre from another.
In online articles, how their purpose--to concisely report current events and public
opinionis achieved depends heavily on conventions of format. For starters, theySo what
aspects of online news articles contribute to the purpose? For starters, they are written strictly in
third person. to avoid giving the reader the feeling they are being given biased messages.By
writing as if the author is an observer, they do not associate themselves with any specific
opinions presented in the news article. This prevents the author from giving the audience the

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impression that the content is biased, which is important for maintaining credibility as a news
source.
TheThe articles themselves are made up of very short, one to two sentence paragraphs
that build on each other as the paper progresses. In Gilmans piece on the California crab ban,
she states only two one sentences before each quote. The single sentences introduces the idea or
subject that the quote refers to, as well as the speakerwell as person who spoke the quote speaker
(Gilman). This keeps the writing brief, and forces the author to be concise and to-the-point.
Being straight forward and direct like this helps news articles to synthesize a lot of information
in a small amount of text for their audience.
In online news articles, all the paragraphs follow this general pattern: information being
given in a brief statement, followed by direct quotes from experts or people being interviewed.
This formatting keeps the articles direct and concise,
Embedded links also aid in packing more information into short sentences and
paragraphsLinks to previous articles are also regularly included in online news articles. Since the
articles are meant to be concise, embedding linked articless in writing providcan offere multiple
benefits to both the author and audience. the option of more context on something that the author
touched on or referred to. For example, in the statement, Persistent warm-water conditions
along the U.S. West Coast have contributed to the largest toxic algae bloom ever recorded, the
italicized portion linksed to an article about the algae blooms, a subject many members of the
audience may not be familiar with (Gilmen). In Katzan article about climate change, links are
embedded in the titles of studies and published reports, like the International Journal of
Climatology, and how it is affecting seasons in Europe, links are sprinkled throughout the text
in short phrases like, the study, International Journal of Climatology, and Canada

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Warbler, (Katz). In this case, the links are primarilyThese two examples show how links and be
utilized to both provide readers with the option of more context on something that the author
touched on or referred to; and used togive the article credibility by citinge sources and ensure
the article is credible, instead of providing additional context. .So there are a variety of ways this
convention can be used that make it a unique, effective tool for this genre.
Now what about blogs? What components of blog posts help the author convey their
message and satisfy their readers? WellThe final paragraphs circle everything back together
while also leaving the subject open-ended. The information was presented in the body of the
article and the author stops after finishing the story. For example, in Gilmans piece, she offered
two final statements, Some experts have said that delaying crabbing season to protect
consumers wont address the causes of the bloom, and fishermen who rely heavily on crabs
have to put some aside in the good years and hope its enough to get them through the bad
years, (Gilmen). The author does not follow up with any of her own words. Theres no pressure
put on the audience to have a certain opinion on the subject. The reader is allowed to reflect on
information in the article and reach their own conclusion on how to feel about what was
reported. Thus effectively sharing unbiased information on current events with the public.
Blog posts are a more personal type of writing that inform and advise their readers
through the personal beliefs and experiences of the author. For these reasons, they are written in
first person.
For organizational purposes, blogs are divided up into sections, each with its own
numbered or bolded title. In Gettys post Why Vegan? she has her three main sections bolded
and in a larger font-- Health Reasons, Ethical Reasons, Environmental Reasonsand
smaller subsections within each of the larger three (Getty). This allows for easy navigation of the
post, in case a reader is looking for a specific topic, and also allows readers to quickly scan over
the whole post and see what topics are covered. The paragraphs themselves are composed of

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longer sentences that cover a lot of material. This is simply because its the sentence structure
that works best with the content in blog posts.
Since there is a lot more freedom when it comes to the order and organization of a blog
post, each post can have a different kind of conclusion. Some may have a call to action, like in
Gettys post. She concludes with I have presented you with many undeniable facts that should
help you appreciate why veganism is the life stye style I would hope everyone rational human
being chooses, (Getty). In this case it is not an explicit call to action, but she gives her last final
push for her overall argument. In others, the author may simply thank the audience for reading,
ask questions about the readers opinions, or advertise their own products (Martinko). Since there
is so much freedom with blogs, there is an endless amount of ways to conclude each post, but
overall they address the audience directly, which contributes to the overall intimate mood.
Both genres, online news articles and blogs, have an audience that seeks out their content.
Regular article readers want to be informed on current events as well as the state of the global
environment. Blog enthusiasts want to know how to become more eco-friendly by changing their
lifestyle and being a smart consumer. These are examples of the two genres content. The
conventions of content, as stated earlier, are they types of information, or content that the piece
contains.
Since online news articles are meant to inform their audience, the authors statements
need to be unbiased. Besides writing in third person, the articles include factual evidence from
studies, and direct quotes from people within communities and from credible sources. Quotes
provide additional insight and various perspectives to better inform the readers, and cited
evidence allows the readers to be confident that the information they are receiving is reliable.
Cited sources are an especially important component of online articles because without them, an
article becomes the equivalent of a gossip column. They become all talk and cease to appeal to
the audiences sense of logic.

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Rather than reporting on events, blogs are usually about providing their audience with
information that can help them better themselves. The author achieves this by pairing factual
information with their own personal though processes, experiences, and wisdom. For example,
Getty shares the thoughts and emotions that were going to through her head that ultimately lead
to her decision to live a vegan lifestyle (Getty). Sharing her perspective makes the writing much
more intimate. It opens up the possibility for the author to strike a chord in audience members
who may be in a similar situation and seeking advice. In Martinkos blog post, Why I Reserved
a Tesla Model 3, she gives an in depth explanation about why she decided to invest in the
product, using logos to suggest that her audience ought to follow her footsteps. First she included
the vehicles stats, reviews, and discussed the company and its reputation. Then she explained
why these facts appealed to her and lead to her decision. The combination of facts and personal
thoughts is what makes blog posts more relatable, and therefore enjoyable, compared to online
news articles, which are very direct.
Thus, it is now apparent how online news articles and blogs have their similarities as well
as their differences. News articles explicitly report information. Blogs advise their readers
through the presentation of facts and stories of past experiences. Blogs also interact with their
audience more than news articles, but the two genres both educate their audience. Therefore,
every genre has its own situation that it is best at responding to.

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Works Cited
Getty, Hanna. "Why Vegan?" Vegan Blogger. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.
Gilman, Azure. "A California Crab Ban Reveals Trouble in the Pacific Ocean." California Crab
Ban Reveals Troubled Pacific Ocean. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.
Katz, Cheryl. "Summer in March? Warming Climate Alters Europe's Seasons." National
Geographic. National Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.
Martinko, Katherine. "Why I Reserved a Tesla Model 3." TreeHugger. N.p., n.d. Web. 12
Apr. 2016.All in all I think this is really super good. I would try to expand a little more in
your conclusion, and try to offer a little bit more of a so what? in your last sentence.
But I think your arguments are hecka strong and well presented. Each has their own type
of content, a general format unique to the genre, and syntax that contribute to the overall
purpose of each piece in different ways. However they both have similar purposesto
inform their audienceas well as an audience that seeks out their pieces.