The Digital Desk

Everything you ever wanted to know about NewsOK.com

Store is open for the NewsOK iPhone app July 21, 2010 | Comment on this article

We launched an iPhone application about a month ago. There wasn’t a lot of fanfare. There was no ticker-tape parade. We didn’t shout it from the mountain tops. But we did launch the product. It happened right before the iPhone 4 was released. The new iPhone operating system gave us a few hiccups. Frankly,... Read More

Ryne Sandberg ages on NewsOK.com

July 20, 2010 I grew up as a child spending many sweltering summer afternoons watching the Chicago Cubs on WGN. And as a result, Ryne Sandberg was my first sports hero. I’ve recently given up on following baseball. I’m a big sports fan, but something had to give, and baseball has been dropped from my sports to-do list.... Read More

Restaurants page added to NewsOK lineup July 19, 2010 We added something new to Life this week. And when I say, ‘Life,’ I’m referring to the Life navigation on NewsOK.com. We added restaurants to the LIFE sub-navigation on NewsOK to complement our already deep food and recipes coverage we’ve always had. It’s something we had to do. The Food/Recipes... Read More

Search the candidates in Oklahoma with our 2010 Elections Page

July 14, 2010 You’ve seen the yard signs. You’ve probably had some people stop and talk to you while you were mowing your yard. You know it’s coming quickly. It’s the 2010 elections. I know. If you’re not a political junkie, you might not be all that excited. The primary that’s scheduled for July 27 has a lot... Read More

NewsOK customer misses Story Wall project July 02, 2010 A NewsOK user contacted us on Twitter yesterday: @NewsOK Just wondering, is the StoryWall dead? I thought it was really snazzy, what happened? http://bit.ly/StoryWall Coincidentally, we had just been speaking about a Story Wall project for later this summer. So we told him: @DarrenWasHere No, not dead.... Read More

Decision time: iPhone, Evo, iPad or Blackberry?

July 01, 2010 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’m quite the... Read More

Flying with the Thunderbirds June 24, 2010 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 — up close, it was... Read More

Getting to know those that make comments on news websites June 23, 2010 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 those are the... Read More

A comment about our comments June 22, 2010 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 other newspapers’... Read More

Conference realignment was fast and accurate on NewsOK June 18, 2010 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 sports pages was... Read More

World Cup coverage — made specifically for NewsOK’s soccer fans

June 17, 2010 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 course of the last two... Read More

A look back at NewsOK coverage the June 14 floods June 16, 2010 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. By mid-morning, as... Read More

Conference realignment, political corruption covered on NewsOK June 11, 2010 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 teams. Those groups have... Read More

Covering the immigration issue on NewsOK

June 01, 2010 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 separated and desperate.... Read More

Responding to a reader about our comments on NewsOK May 28, 2010 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 ya wont let me write... Read More

Oklahoma City Barons reach the NewsOK navigation

May 27, 2010 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 coverage to expand in... Read More

A small change to our comments on NewsOK

May 21, 2010 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 comments on some stories... Read More

Sports reporters doing what they do

May 20, 2010 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 Taliaferro quickly became... Read More

A breaking news story about a breaking news story May 19, 2010 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 details though.... Read More

Hot Ink launches 2010 edition

May 04, 2010 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 publication and web... Read More