Effective Blog Digests for Clear Communication

1. News Digests Editing for Clear Communication

2. News Digests for blogs • Similar to posts in terms of information • Publish digest on its own page on your blog • Digest is an objective synthesis of information • Posts are evaluation/analysis • Digests are like round-ups of current information on a particular topic • Objective synthesis, not evaluation

3. Requirements • Four stories that relate to your blog • Each story must be current news • Not older than two weeks • Don’t use anything you’ve already written a post about • Each story must be from a different source • Link to the original source in each digest item • Each story must be on a different topic • Headline for each, 10 words or less • Digest for each, 40 to 60 words

4. What to do first • Check sites that are regular sources of current information for your blog • Use a search engine (i.e. Google) to find current information relevant to your blog • Try various search terms • Get several options • Make notes of the general topic and the Web address of each • Choose your top four

5. Writing the digest info (in Word) • Write a 40-60 word description of each story/information you selected • Use complete sentences, correct grammar, AP style, etc. • Do not copy and paste • Note which word/words might be appropriate to link from • Write a 10-word (or less) headline for each digest item • Use active voice, present tense • Use subject-verb-object construction • Put the digest items in order from most important/relevant to least

6. Writing the digest info (in Word)

7. Creating a News digest page

8. Creating a news digest page

9. Creating a news digest page

10. Creating a news digest page