Cengage Learning has released my textbook for online journalism classes. This is the first textbook built from the ground up to show students how to tailor their reporting, writing and editing skills specifically for the online medium. Instead of taking a standard writing or editing text and changing a few words here and there to create a “Web update,” every aspect of this book has been put together with online journalism in mind.

The chapters cover a wide variety of concepts that go beyond standard writing texts. For example, in the area of information gathering, students can learn advanced keyword searching techniques and get acquainted with high-powered databases that reporters use to dig deeper and find more specific types of information. In the section on writing, students are exposed to different styles and techniques of online writing and learn how to structure their writing to take advantage of the strengths of the medium. Later in the book, students learn about legal and ethical issues unique to online journalism, and can take a peek into the future as seen by online journalists themselves.