The Digital Desk

Everything you ever wanted to know about NewsOK.com

The birth of the NewsOK Storywall September 29, 2009 | Comment on this article

Web editor Nick Tankersley had an idea a few weeks back. He thought it would be nifty if we told a story in a completely non-linear way — allowing users to click on a number of different elements and get a different experience each time. They might get a photo if they click on one block of content. They might... Read More

It’s like I’m right there in the wrestling ring

September 22, 2009 I spent a day at the Golden Goose Flea Market in Midwest City a few weeks back when the Mid South Wrestling Alliance held one of its events. Welll … I think I spent the day there. Frankly, I can’t remember if I was actually there or not. I can visualize being there. I feel like I had some conversations... Read More

The final word on the mustache September 16, 2009 There not really anything I can add to this post, except this: Our sports department is creative. Read More

Burning through money: A multimedia experiment September 15, 2009 Local Editor Michael Baker and a few members of his reporting team – John Estus and Bryan Dean – pulled off a nice multimedia package last week. They enlisted the help of web editor Nick Tankersley, art director Todd Pendleton and graphic artist Brian Mays to effectively tell the story about the ... Read More

Horoscope arrives to NewsOK Life and A&E pages September 14, 2009 You read your horoscope. You don’t have to lie. We already know you read your horoscope. When you see it in the paper, you read it. When you see it in a magazine, you read it. When you see it online, you read it. I read it. How can I not? Fortune cookies can only tell me so much. That’s why today, I will not... Read More

Searching on NewsOK just got a lot better September 11, 2009 Search for something on NewsOK. No … really. We really want you to search for something on NewsOK. OK. I’ll try it. I searched “Landry Jones.” You know – he’s the quarterback at OU now that Sam Bradford is injured early in the season. Anyway, take a look at what I saw when I searched “Landry... Read More

Showcasing an nDepth inspiration

September 08, 2009 Check out the nDepth piece we showcased on the home page of NewsOK today. Reported by Jenni Carlson, it’s a story about Dick Hoyt, who is internationally known for the races (marathons, triathlons, etc) he runs pushing, pulling and carrying his wheelchair-bound son. Jenni interviewed Dick Hoyt (you can listen... Read More

‘Oklahoma Idol’ series amuses, entertains, informs

September 04, 2009 I clicked on the video above from the NewsOK home page this morning. Classic stuff. Quality entertainment. Now I see what sports editor Mike Sherman has been talking about. This stuff is a bit different. You can’t help but be part amused, part shocked, part horrified — but completely entertained and... Read More

Interest increases in Anadarko church killing coverage on NewsOK

September 03, 2009 Monday was a big day for NewsOK.com in terms of page views. We had a story that simply went off the charts on our Top Ten Most-Viewed Articles page. The story was written by reporter Nolan Clay, and it first appeared in The Oklahoman on Sunday. It contained details about the death of Oklahoma City pastor in the... Read More

Make your football picks on NewsOK

September 01, 2009 It’s time to make your picks. We do this every year … picks contest for high school football, college football and NFL football. And every year, we think that we’ve pretty much captured the U Pick’Em audience for our contests. But, every year, we find that the audience is waiting for this contest... Read More

Celebrity Watch page grows in content and popularity

August 27, 2009 I was in a meeting the other day with an OPUBCO Communications Group executive and a couple of others. We were discussing a few items about the way we treat and present content on a variety of our pages. The Celebrity Watch page on NewsOK came up as an example. ‘That’s my favorite page on NewsOK,” said... Read More

NewsOK launches new mobile site August 25, 2009 We launched a new mobile site this weekend for all mobile platforms. Now, NewsOK on your mobile device (including an iPhone, Blackberry, Palm Pre or any other device) is enhanced to make the experience better. I carry a Blackberry Curve, and I love the new site, especially in comparison to the way we delivered... Read More

High school fall sports day summed up in about one minute August 21, 2009 This is a pretty cool video. It’s a quick (a very quick) look at all the high school athletes that were in our building here at OPUBCO on Thursday as we prepare to cover the fall high school sports. Pay close attention to the names and faces. There will be a quiz after it’s finished. I memorized every name... Read More

Today’s Paper page is improved and ready for more

August 20, 2009 We’ve had a link to I thought today would be a good day to bring more attention to that page because we’ve recently focused on improving the experience once you are there and the experience of actually getting there. If you are a daily newspaper reader, you’ve likely seen more notes in the newspaper... Read More

An afternoon break with Helen Ford Wallace, the trendsetter August 19, 2009 I just had a nice afternoon break to discuss blogging with NewsOK’s first staff blogger - Helen Ford Wallace. Helen often stops by on Wednesday afternoon before her 3 p.m. video shoot at OPUBCO Studios on the seventh floor of the OPUBCO tower. Helen is a trendsetter here at OPUBCO Communications Group. And... Read More

Video initiatives bring ‘innovator’ results for NewsOK August 18, 2009 At NewsOK.com, we know that we do a lot of things well. We produce a lot of news and information content that a lot of people use as a part of their daily lives, whether it’s breaking news, features, investigative pieces or sports columns. Yes, we do a lot of things well, and we do most of them at a pretty high... Read More

NewsOK launches new high school sports coverage page — Varsity

August 17, 2009 High school football practices started last week. It was Tuesday, to be exact. That was also the same day we launched our new initiative in covering high school sports better than anyone else. It’s called Varsity, and the main idea is this – we are putting sports reporters on specific coverage areas and... Read More

New Viva Oklahoma! releases this week

August 10, 2009 The latest edition of Viva Oklahoma! was released on Sunday. You can see the Web site at all times from the link on the NewsOK sub-navigation under Home. Or you can simply bookmark http://www.vivaoklahoma.com. I used to work on this publication each month, while I was the Director of Custom Publishing here at... Read More

‘Life is Real – Writing the Final Chapters’ series continues with blogs from Jim Chastain and Charlotte Lankard

August 07, 2009 A couple of weeks ago, The Oklahoman ran its final chapters of the “Jim Chastain: Life is Real” series. The good news is that the series ends with Jim continuing the fight and living with cancer. And our page on NewsOK, complete with Jim’s blog will continue on. Reporter Ken Raymond shared his thoughts... Read More

High school huddle warms up the NewsOK high school coverage August 06, 2009 It’s almost high school football season. And our sports staff is gearing up for the most in-depth and consistent coverage of high school football that we’ve ever seen online. Watch below, and stay tuned next week for our new high school coverage page. Just remember this – NewsOK.com is where you can... Read More