The Digital Desk

Everything you ever wanted to know about NewsOK.com

Get Appy column showcases apps for kids of all ages February 29, 2012 | Comment on this article

Lillie-Beth Brinkman came by my office a couple weeks ago to discuss something very important. Lillie-Beth is our Assistant Features Editor and writes the ‘Get Appy‘ for The Oklahoman and NewsOK.com. She opened the conversation in hushed tones, so nobody could overhear her. “Do you play Temple Run?” I... Read More

Stepping into the Pinterest world

February 22, 2012 I’ve gone through a few of the unofficial phases of social media acceptance with Pinterest. It’s the rite of passage for many individuals in the social media space. Sure, the steps are a little different if you are an over-achieving early adopter. I know lots of those people. But for us normal every-day... Read More

NewsOK Sports honored for best multimedia coverage February 21, 2012 In December, the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) announced its annual top 10 honorees for best website. NewsOK Sports was ranked among the nation’s best for the third consecutive year. And then yesterday in Florida at the annual conference, The sports department was honored again. This time, it was for... Read More

ScissorTales blog is back — check the NewsOK Opinion page February 07, 2012 I love it when I get to write in my blog about another blog — especially when the blog I get to write about is returning to past prosperity. ScissorTales is back. The blog is featured on our Opinion page and showcases additional opinions and insights from the team of Editorial writers at The Oklahoman. Recent... Read More

‘Endangered Black History’ nDepth series comes highly recommended

February 07, 2012 We are in the middle of a six-part series titled, “Endangered Black History,” that I would highly recommend our users take a look at. We’ve organized this coverage as part of our nDepth – Stories of the Ages presentations, where we tell a story in a long-form and high-design format. We’ve completed... Read More

A review of the 2012 Signing Day coverage on NewsOK

February 06, 2012 Last Wednesday was the annual Signing Day, and our sports staff was all over the coverage throughout the day. If you are one of those people who are really interested in football recruiting and mapping the future of the OU and OSU football programs, you already knew about this page. You probably even participated... Read More

Photo galleries on NewsOK are worth another look

January 30, 2012 It’s actually been more than a month since we unveiled out new photo galleries, but it seems like a fine time to get your feedback on our photo galleries on NewsOK. Here’s the background … The NewsOK developers spent some time in the second half of 2011 looking at improving our photo galleries. They did a... Read More

Spreading the word about QR codes and The Oklahoman’s digital products

January 26, 2012 A newspaper reader called me the other day. He was a pleasant fellow who wanted to know if I could help him figure out how to use the QR codes that we print in The Oklahoman. He was wanting to connect to our multimedia videos and photos that we often refer to from these QR codes. He was willing to learn something... Read More

Feature on NewsOK articles aims to offer another interesting read

January 16, 2012 We added a new feature last week to our articles. Hopefully, you noticed — especially since the feature only makes an appearance when you reach the bottom of an article. We added a ‘slideout’ feature that appears on the right side of your screen when you scroll to the bottom of an article. Technically, it... Read More

Claiming victory over a friendly 12-year-old debate with Berry Tramel

January 12, 2012 I learned two things about Berry Tramel this past week. One of those items didn’t surprise me. The other floored me. Sportswriter of the year First, I learned that Berry was named Oklahoma Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. That news did not surprise me.... Read More

Week in review: OU football news leads most-viewed items on NewsOK

January 12, 2012 It’s time again to review the most popular items on NewsOK in the past week. Enjoy … Most-viewed article Ryan Aber’s recruiting piece on Tuesday about OU’s focus on wide receiver prospect Dorial Green-Beckham led the way. That surprised me, actually. I know recruiting news is big, but I fully expected one... Read More

Another story about amazing uses for today’s technology

January 10, 2012 I’ve written quite a bit about the iPad I use on a daily basis. I bought it last year — I think it was in May. It’s the absolute truth that this device has changed my day-to-day life as much as any device or tool I’ve purchased in years (the fancy washer and dryer from about five years ago is a close... Read More

Closing the book on 2011 end-of-year interactive projects

January 09, 2012 Opening the first full week of a new year, I thought it would be good to offer a shotgun approach to some of the items you might have missed in recent weeks. So here goes … The 2011 Year in Review page was released. We take a simple approach to this page. It’s simply the 25 most-viewed articles of the year. In... Read More

A detailed picture of DOC and prison escapees

December 20, 2011 Last week, we launched a pretty cool project that paints a detailed picture of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections and prison escapees from Oklahoma. Reporters Tiffany Gibson and Matt Patterson worked closely with web editor Nick Tankersley and Art Director Todd Pendleton to create an online presentation that... Read More

The well-told story of Freckles Brown and Tornado

December 18, 2011 We put together another nDepth – Stories of the Ages piece for Sunday. It’s called, “The Ride,” and it focuses on the most famous “Eight Seconds in Rodeo History” when Freckles Brown stayed atop Tornado in 1967. The story appeared on the front page of The Oklahoman on Sunday and was featured... Read More

The Buckles family takes on the digital transition

December 16, 2011 Local Editor Rick Green doesn’t just organize the news coverage every day while constantly juggling conversations and opinions of news reporters and managing editors. No, even though he has one of the toughest jobs in the OPUBCO building, Rick apparently still finds time to read the paper cover to cover... Read More

Hearing praise from a fan of the NewsOK app & a fan of the Barons December 15, 2011 Sports writer/columnist/reporter/expert/personality Berry Tramel shared this email with me last week: Can’t thank you enough for the newsok app. Living in South Carolina, it brings me in touch with what’s happening in news and sports (mostly sports for me) back home. I was hoping you could... Read More

Tweet for the First Amendment; Win a scholarship December 14, 2011 I admit it. I don’t post a lot on Twitter. But make no mistake. I think Twitter is awesome. I do a ton of listening on Twitter. And I’m a big advocate. The biggest reason I’m such a fan of the tool is that I see how The Oklahoman’s reporters and editors cultivate sources, share information and... Read More

Send a Christmas greeting to troops around the world

December 12, 2011 Want to send a message to those serving our country around the world? Want to share a specific message with a friend or family member serving our country and let others know about it? Want to tag a a friend or family member serving our country? Just post a message on the NewsOK “Show Your Thanks to Oklahoma... Read More

NewsOK TV app worth a spot on your home screen

December 08, 2011 The NewsOK TV app in the iTunes store might be the coolest app we have that we don’t talk about enough. We’ve had it for quite a while — well over a year, I know. But our latest update (released in the iTunes store on Nov. 29) really makes it a nice addition to your phone. We added push notifications to the... Read More