Hypertext, narrative, and the future of news wrting

This thesis considers how the narrative context in which hypertext has developed offers a solution for transforming print media into an online form. It defines the qualities of the hypertext narrative and looks specifically at how hyperfiction has utilized these qualities. It outlines the aspects of hypertext relevant to shaping an online narrative and then considers how those aspects of hypertext could be applied to one of the forms of narrative, the online news story, that up to this point has not effectively utilized screen-based text. The online news story is an example of words on a screen functioning in much the same way they have for hundreds of years on the newspaper page. This thesis focuses specifically on the application of hypertext theory to online newspaper because of the precarious place in which that media finds itself as it works to adapt to the age of the Internet. Yet even with the use of links and multimedia, online newspaper stories have not seen the type of drastically different presentation of narratives created by hyperfiction. The usefulness of considering what hyperfiction has to teach the online newspaper becomes even more apparent in light of the necessity for change within the industry (Cho, Martin, and Lacy).