News Guide.
This is a guide that has been designed to assist those who wish to post news on the My Media sites.
Let's start with what's news...and what isn't.
News can be a lot of different things, but the short of it is it's something new or a big development.
Here are some dot points for what counts as news
-A new game
-A major new feature or change to that game (ie. level editor, online play)
-Release dates
-Developments within the gaming industry, be it financial stuff, important people leaving and joining companies, industry reports and so on.
-Major media releases, large batch of screen shots or brand new trailers.
-Above all else, news is news when there is a good source behind the story, not just a forum post somewhere.
Don't be worried about posting news that isn't about game development directly - a lot of people are very interested in what goes on behind the scenes of the gaming world, be it press conferences, sales numbers or even the coming and going of major executives. A good news feeds includes all sorts of news about gaming, direct or indirect.
What isn't news?
-Unsubstantiated rumors
-Personal opinions on development.
When is it okay to post a rumor?
-First and foremost, when you've heard it somewhere that ISN'T a forum.
-When several major news sites have posted the news as well (ie IGN, PALGN, Joystiq and so on)
-When several of these major news sites all agree on the same thing.
-When you go to make your post, mention at least two sources that can agree on the story.
Do not base rumor news on box art, what people have said in forums, supposed 'insider news leaks' and so on.
All of these things are very easy to fake.
What are sources and why do I need to mention them?
Sources are where you originally heard the news, and it's there for a few different reasons. First and foremost, to give credit to the people who broke the story. Secondly, if people want to find out more information, it's really easy to get to the original news article. Thirdly, if on the off chance there is a problem with the news article, be it incorrect, out of date or just plain rubbish, it helps editors track down the origin of the news in case a correction or update is required.
Also, when looking at sources, the site you have read the story on may have sourced it from somewhere else in turn. If possible try and track it back to the original source, this way you can verify that the story has remained true and correct until you read it, and will also alert you to any updates to the story since it'soriginal posting that other sites may have missed.
What goes into a good article?
While we're not going to give you a full writing guide, most of it is common sense. What you're aiming to do is write something that is easily understood and doesn't confuse the reader or mislead them.
Here are a few tips though:
-Always re-read what you have written before posting. This will help you pick up on spelling mistakes and typos. Don't be scared to spend the time making sure everything is correct and reads well.
-Stay on track in your story. Finish dealing with one topic before moving onto the next. Say for example you had a story about several game delays. Detail each game, it's delay time and the reason before moving onto the next, don't lump it all into one chunk.
A bad example is:
"Super Awesome Robots, Cookie Party and Mega-zoid have all been delayed till 2007 and 2008"
A good way to write something like that would be.
"Super Awesome Robots, the game where you fight as a Robot has been delayed till 2007. This news also comes along side Cookie Party, the virtual bake off game where you bake cookies for girl scout fund raisers, which has been delayed till early 2008.
Last off all we have Mega-Zoid, Konamitendo's brand new anime based game, which was due out next month, but has been also delayed till 2008 due to production problems."
-No matter how excited you are about the news, and how much you know everyone else is going to be excited, don't use smiley faces in your news. That's what comments are for.
-Don't credit yourself in the actual news text, people will see your name underneath the news post and that's enough. For example, don't write "This has been sexy news brought to your by..."
-Don't use slang, like 1337, pwn, MGS4, MP3, SSBB and so on. Use language that anyone can understand. If this is there first adventure into video games they're not going to know all the gamer slang.
-You MUST rewrite 3rd party articles, and MUST still mention your source. Copy & Pasting news is not tolerated on the MyMedia Network, everything has to be your own work. However you CANNOT change quotes. If someone has gone on record saying 'Mega-Zoid will be the best game ever, it's so much better than all the calamari fighting games out there' then you have to leave that untouched and cannot reword it.
-Never, by any means, write in the first-person. For example, don't write "I came across some news about the MGS4 release date..." instead write something like "Metal Gear Solid 4 Release Date?" K.I.S.S = Keep It Simple, Silly!
-Never, ever give your own personal opinion in the news, like "I think this is great news" or "OMG I can't believe this, can you?" Instead, speak on behalf of everyone. "This is sure to be great news for fans of the franchise."
01/11/2008
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