Writers help organize information. The writer must force decisions about what's most important by understanding the reader's point of view. Writers help get the message out. It's like visiting a friend who talks a long time and you can't remember anything he or she said afterwards. Often the writer's job is to figure out what the real message is and then find a clever or interesting way of getting it across.
Writers are translators, interpreters.
There is a real need to translate or interpret any message to make it right for this medium. The writer must find a new expression of the message for it to be effective. In a corporate setting, the writer tries to balance the goals of business people who have a message to communicate with the needs and interests of people for whom the message is intended. The writer must serve both sides well. The Web continues to be primarily a text-based medium but writers have good reason to be defensive about producing words on the Web.