The writer received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Business Publications Editors (ASBPE). The following is based on an original post updated by the author for “The Editorial Advantage.”
For many B2B websites, e-news content has yet to reach a suitable quality level. Maybe the heavy workload placed on editors to deliver top content for print and e-news is asking too much.
To confirm this perception, I embarked on an e-news study that eventually will reflect practices of at least 50 sites. This commentary is an update based on data involving 28 sites that delivered 247 e-news articles.
Each news item reviewed can earn a maximum score of 100 points. (You can check out scoring system details on my Editing Tips page.) For each site’s “breaking news” postings on a given day, an average score is calculated based on individual article scores. So far, the highest average score achieved is 70.6 points. Only eight of the 28 sites reviewed earned a score of 60 points or higher. The rest of the sites had average performance scores in the 36-59 range.
Here’s how sites reviewed measured up against the most critical evaluation factors:
- Urgency. Items are scored on the basis of achieving high, medium or low urgency levels. Of the 247 articles assessed, 95 (38.1 percent) stacked up as “high.” Several dozen items earned a “low.”
- Enterprise. Evidence of enterprise is lacking in 157 articles reviewed – a disappointing 64.4 percent of total items assessed. What I am seeking is an indication that the writer went beyond the original press release – if that was the source – in search of additional quotes. An even more encouraging sign would be that the article did not launch from a canned announcement. Ideally, it would reflect personal coverage of a convention or other important industry function.
- Fog Index. So far, foggy writing doesn’t seem to concern most e-news writers or their editors. According to posted discussions of what makes for effective web writing, fast-paced content is a must. Further, fast-paced writing should not be something that requires experienced editors to take a course. Unfortunately, the reality is that foggy writing runs rampant in many news articles appearing in B2B magazines. So why should things be better on the web? Anyway, of the 247 articles assessed, 133 (53.8 percent) defied readability thanks to Fog Index levels exceeding 13.0. The preferred FI grade level range is 10-12.
- Average sentence length. Related to Fog Index calculations, 99 articles – 40.9 percent – had average sentence lengths exceeding 25 words. Fog Index theory stipulates 20 words. Finally, if e-news is supposed to launch quickly into an article, some of us are heading in the opposite direction. I found 111 articles (44.9 percent) where the opening sentence ran 30 words or longer.
- Direct quote usage. Of key importance, evidence of contact with end-users (as opposed to associations, suppliers and other sources) is inconsistent. Of the 247 articles reviewed, 83 (33.6 percent) used no quotes. Another 101 (48.8 percent) used one quote. Running a single quote in an article would be okay if obtained via personal interview with a source. However, many quotes read as if they were lifted straight off a press release.
- Lead value. In news writing, a key story point must be made within the first five-ten words. Delivery for this factor was somewhat more encouraging than in other cases: 195 of the 247 articles (65.5 percent) measured up. However, that still leaves too many articles missing the boat. In several cases, editors wasted over 50 words before arriving at the real story.
Howard Rauch is president of Editorial Solutions Inc., a consultancy focusing on B2B magazines. Contact him at howard @ editsol.com.
