The Digital Desk

So my Blackberry finally took all the beatings it could handle. I was in my driveway a few weeks back saying good-bye to friends who had stopped for a visit. I pulled the Blackberry out of my pocket and it slipped out of my hand. As the phone hung in mid-air, I swung my hand down to catch it...

I took the family to see the air show at Tinker Air Force Base last Saturday. It was hot — really, really, really hot. But it was fun. Frankly, I wasn’t very excited about the show. I was going because my boys would have fun. But when I saw the planes — the power and the acrobatics —...

Last week, Boston.com ran a story that many of us in the news industry found fascinating. It was about those who spend a lot of their free time participating in comments on news websites like Boston.com (or NewsOK.com) I think many news consumers would find it equally fascinating, since...

I received this piece of feedback from a NewsOK user in the state of Washington. Thanks to whoever is responsible for deciding to disable comments on stories such as crimes and deaths. We don’t need to read the hateful comments, speculation, personal agendas, etc that people put out on...

Yesterday, I admitted to being a soccer fan. That’s the truth. But I’m also a big sports fan in general. I followed the conference realignment mess intently. And frankly, I was rooting for the PAC 16 to become reality. I can tell you this, though. The coverage offered on the NewsOK...

It’s true. I’m a World Cup fan. I’m even a general soccer fan. I don’t wear soccer jerseys, speak with a fake European accent or sneer at fellow Americans that prefer not to follow soccer. But I am a soccer fan. I actually followed the World Cup qualification matches over the...

A thunderstorm hit on Monday morning. No big deal, right? It happens. We’ll deal with it. Then, it kept raining. And it kept raining. Pretty soon, all of us in the Oklahoma City area were affected. What was an innocent thunderstorm became a dangerous flood. NewsOK sprang into action....

We built two Ongoing Coverage pages this week to add to our list of stories we are continually following. They are both stories that took off in the last seven days and really captured the NewsOK audience with each breaking detail. The first is the coverage from our Watchdog and Political...

We added another key piece of coverage on NewsOK this weekend. Reporters Ron Jackson and Vallery Brown covered the immigration story as it relates to Oklahoma. Ron’s story focused on a family that had been in Oklahoma City for years before the oldest son was deported. The family is...

I wrote a post last week that pointed out some changes to the way we display comments on NewsOK. I was pointing out that the tone of the public conversation on NewsOK has grown more and more hateful and destructive. My post garnered this response from a reader: Yes I’ve been noticing how...

We made a quick change to our NewsOK sub-navigation for Sports last week. It happened on the same day that the Oklahoma City Barons made the official announcement about their name, ending months of speculation about the name of the new AHL hockey team in Oklahoma City. Look for our Barons...

Comments on NewsOK are something I often hear about. I hear about how people love to read our comments.I hear about how people wish the comments on NewsOK were more – how can I say this? – intelligent? constructive? on topic?I hear about how we are sometimes inconsistent with allowing...

The big sports story on NewsOK today was actually posted yesterday afternoon. The breaking news story was overshadowed yesterday by the weather explosion we were about to see in the skies above central Oklahoma. Nevertheless, the story about former OU assistant basketball coach Oronde...

Yesterday, a woman in Alabama knew about something in Bethel Acres. And because she communicates with us, our audience became aware. On Twitter, we saw this post from a user named Cynthia Nichols: @newsok I just heard there has been an electrical fire at Bethel Elementary. Don’t know any...

Every year, members of the news and information center for OPUBCO Communications Group work with a group of high school students to share wisdom and experience with young people who have an interest in journalism. It’s called Newsroom 101, and the public-facing result is Hot Ink, and annual...

Eleven years ago today, I survived the most dangerous tornado anyone had ever seen. I was in a utility closet in the middle of Moore, America. I actually thought there was a good chance I wouldn’t survive. It was scary. It was loud. And yes – it sounded like a freight train. I was...

The biggest newspaper of the year came out on Sunday. It was our annual ‘Outlook’ section that takes a strong look at where we are as a community and where we are going as a state. It’s always a fun read and a terrific snapshot of Oklahoma City and the surrounding state. We always have...

I tweeted this morning. That’s what happens when I’m overcome with enthusiasm. Amazing depth of coverage from @newsoksports. NFL Draft: http://newsok.com/sports/nfl OKC Thunder: http://newsok.com/sports/thunder #newsok The tweet pretty much says it all. It says how I feel in 140...

I sat quietly at the Edmond Soccer Club field yesterday evening, awaiting the end of my 9-year-old’s soccer practice. The coach was talking to the team and about to release them. I sat on nearby bleachers watching my 5-year-old jump from bleacher to bleacher and waiting for him to fall and...

I was lucky enough to attend the 2009 Carl Rogan Awards banquet Saturday night in Tulsa. It was a nice drive, a nice dinner and some nice conversations with colleagues. I even sat at the table with Ken 2.0 (and, yes, he was still eating reasonable portions). But the honors made the night...