More Control, But Not Clarity In Non-linear Web Stories

Newspaper Research Journal, Spring 2004 by Lowrey, Wilson

Non-linear Web stories have a positive effect on the degree of perceived control, a negative effect on the amount of feedback and no significant effect on the degree of perceived credibility.

In recent years there has been a call in the online news industry for greater innovation in the production and presentation of news on the Web.1 Many journalists and scholars say Web news stories should offer more opportunities for readers to interact with journalists,2 should provide readers with greater control over site navigation3 and should offer readers both brief and encyclopedic information.4 Journalism school curricula5 and media industry think tanks such as the Poynter Institute generally advocate such recommendations in courses on the production of non-linear Web news stories. These recommendations serve the financial needs of the news industry, but there are also more altruistic aims. News that is more interactive and "non-linear" should empower readers and bring about a more equal relationship between news media and audiences.6

There is debate over the definition of "non-linearity." A common assumption is that non-linear stories offer readers control over the sequence of story components. According to theorists of "hypermedia," non-linearity means that units of information can be read out of order and should be interconnected with hyperlinks.7 Others think non-linear stories must include links to other Web sites,8 while some stress the importance of interactivity and the integration of video and sound. The present study adopts the more narrow definition of nonlinearity. Here the non-linear story is one that is segmented into discrete components that are layered, interconnected with hyperlinks and overlaid with a navigation scheme.

This study has a number of objectives. One, it tests assumptions in the industry that non-linear Web stories benefit readers. Does the non-linear format improve learning of news information? Do audiences find the reading of non-linear text more involving and easier to control? Do readers of non-linear stories provide more feedback? Some recent evidence in the mass communication literature suggests hypermedia do not aid recall, but little research has been conducted on more advanced cognitive processes such as the formulation of feedback. A focus on feedback is also important because increased interaction has been touted as a way to improve relations with increasingly disenchanted news audiences9 and to ensure more open and robust public discussion of issues.10 Finally, the study is an attempt to shed light on the "media logic" of Web news. In other words, the study looks at the degree to which audiences and Web news producers share an understanding of the non-linear format.

Literature Review

Assumptions about the benefits of non-linearity in online journalism have roots in hypertext theory. In the 1960s Theodor Nelson coined the term hypertext and described it as "nonsequential writing," and as "a series of text chunks connected by links which offer the reader different pathways."11 Hypertext has been referred to as a "space" in which readers navigate according to their own objectives. Information designers are supposed to establish "landmarks" and "routes" to help readers in their self-driven exploration.12 Readers are not expected to view or read in any pre-determined order, and so clear navigation is considered vital.13

Hypertext theorists argue that hypermedia expands the normal constraints of story telling by opening stories up to connections with other related stories.14 According to Landow, hypertext blurs "all those boundaries that form the running border of... a work."15 Hypertext theorists say control must ultimately be surrendered to the reader, because the meaning of stories is not controlled by the story producer.16 A common assumption is that the non-linearity of hypertext is natural to the way the human mind works,17 although some hypertext theorists view this assumption as overly simplistic.18

Hypermedia theorists have been criticized for ignoring the context of the reading and viewing experience. How an author chooses to appropriate references in a work is arguably as important as the information in the references, and unguided hyperlinking may obscure such meaning cues.19 In fact, studies have shown that when readers scan selectively and are not required to read in a predetermined fashion, learning can suffer.20

Hypermedia in Education

Some of the most promising advancements in the study of non-linear hypermedia have come from education psychology. Among a number of useful theories, Sweller's cognitive load theory is especially relevant, Load theory focuses on memory recall and knowledge gain. According to this theory, information overload can put stress on working memory, which leads to cognitive disorientation. This, in turn, causes problems for the development of long-term memory.21 Load theory has been applied to studies of the design of learning material. Researchers have found that the mental cost of managing different sources of information is high for those who are not expert in the information area.22 Hypermedia can lower this cost by breaking information into smaller units, integrating these units through hyperlinks, clearly describing topic choices and making selection of relevant information easier.23