FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVEIn my 205, I was asked to think about how and why my writing changes from one community to another. This essay represents the results of that exploration. My writing style changes considerably between the academic and journalistic communities. In my academic and journalistic writing, I am obliged to include as much information as possible, but the two require completely different styles. I think this difference exists because the two forms of writing serve different purposes. The general goals of a newspaper article are to examine a story or issue, introduce the public to the issue, and provide a forum for the opinions of others. With few exceptions, newspapers have neither the time nor the space to delve deeply into a subject; instead, they introduce it and possibly follow it up later with another story. The general goal of most academic writing I have done is to comprehensively answer a question. This involves a much more exhaustive exploration of a problem. Often in academic writing, the question itself provides the focus and defines the content of the writing. The fundamental differences in purpose between journalistic and academic forms of writing manifest themselves in more clearly defined differences. The most obvious difference between the two forms of writing is structure. By using the term “structure,” I am referring to the length and context of the writing. Structure is an important factor because it forms the basis of my writing. In academic writing, I try to cite many examples or personal experiences to illustrate a point. Newspaper writing requires that I condense my arguments. The writing is meant to be simple, but informative, and is reduced to a few inches of type. Writing to fill six inches of type is very different from filling six double-spaced pages. Structure also results in differences in word usage. Due to space constraints, every word counts when writing for a newspaper. The key is to say as much as possible in as few words as possible. There is a specific “newspaper style” that requires short paragraphs, consistent attribution of information, an active voice, and many other writing guidelines. Depending on the journal style, paragraphs should be one or two sentences long, with each paragraph including a complete statement or thought. This allows the reader to move quickly from one point to the next, without getting bored or losing interest in the story. Information in newspaper articles should always be attributed.