May 23, 2013
- 15 Random Songs About Oklahoma…
- Join us at the Help Moore Benefit Concert this SaturdayMay 22, 2013
- Something About Yesterday…May 21, 2013
- 10 Thunder Playoff Observations Paired With Depressing Grunge Songs From The 1990s…May 16, 2013
- 33 totally awesome story ideas for the NewsOK Digital Desk…May 15, 2013
- An open letter to the cry baby known as Macklemore…May 14, 2013
- Why does Abigail Ogle have so many fake Twitter followers?May 13, 2013
- A News 9 reporter is going to be on the ABC reality show “Whodunnit?”May 9, 2013
- Oklahoma’s scariest white rapper has released another music video…May 7, 2013
Archive for The Oklahoman
33 totally awesome story ideas for the NewsOK Digital Desk…
May 15
2013
Back in April, we published a post about the not-so-subtle changes taking place at NewsOK.com. Basically, how the site is transitioning from an average newspaper homepage to a below-average news aggregator super hub. One specific item we touched on was the launch of the “new and improved” “Digital Desk.”
This is what we had to say:
The site is also in the midst of posting sprightly little columns from something called the ”The Digital Desk.” They kind of remind me of the stories you’d see at BuzzFeed but probably not click on. That’s probably a good thing because the posts are kind of boring. Here are two recent examples. Make sure you drink some caffeine before trying to read them.
6 types of people you might have seen at Norman Music Festival: My favorite is Number 6. It shows a photograph of people taking cover from rain with the caption “People who would not let rain keep them from enjoying the festival.”
20 ways people responded to news of Russell Westbrook’s injury: I have no comment about this post. That’s how awful it is.
Now this is where things get creepy. When they’re not ripping off BuzzFeed, it looks like the Digital Desk is trying to stoop down to our level and write blog posts about Oklahoman weather and weathermen! This development has led to people asking me if we’re worried that OPUBCO is trying to force us to move to Enid or something.
Well, it looks like I can continue sending my Enid realtor to voicemail. Things have not improved at the NewsOK.com Digital Desk. In fact, you can its content has gotten worse. Check out some of newer posts. These are totally real:
5 things Oklahomans should remember about ‘The Biggest Loser’ before they audition this Saturday. That’s real. I swear I didn’t make it up. They really published the post, and somehow “Be Morbidly Obese and Jolly” wasn’t number one. They also didn’t make fun of Neil Harmer for falling off a treadmill. Basically, the the post was preachy, boring and something you’d never want to read.
4 reasons why ‘Iron Man 3′ was a horrible start to Marvel’s Phase 2. Word of advice to all web writers, editors and publishers. If you want to write a list and only have four items on it, either don’t write the list or come up with a fifth item. It’s not that hard.
Whatever it is that Rob Hibbard is doing. I’m pretty sure he writes all of his experimental posts while smoking bad weed and listening to Mars Volta. He’s either on some genius level that we don’t comprehend or just really really depressed.
Yeah, it’s quite obvious that the people behind the NewsOK Digital Desk really don’t know what they’re doing. They’re clueless, trying too hard, and I kind of feel sorry for them. They remind me of a 50-year-old wearing a Tommy Bahama shirt to a rock concert.
In effort to have a little fun, we came up with a list of 33 totally awesome story ideas that we wouldn’t be surprised to see on the NewsOK.com Digital Desk. Here they are:
1. The 20 Hottest Women In The Oklahoma City Print Media
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2. 23 Best Places in OKC to Avoid Gay People
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3. Steve Lackmeyer’s 11 favorite White Water slides
What’s going on with NewsOK’s new “Digital Desk?”
Apr 30
2013
The first mention of NewsOK.com in the Oklahoman. (Aug. 2001)
There are some weird changes taking place at NewsOK.com.
We first noticed this back in February when the site turned into a poor man’s Huffington Post and began to share national news stories from across the web. Here’s the basic formula. NewsOK.com interns and editors find a clickable headline from a site like Gawker or TMZ, post the first paragraph of the story on NewsOK.com, and then give the old “Click here to read more” treatment. They don’t provide any additional information or commentary. It’s a shameless, cheap and very productive way to get a couple of extra page views per site visit and show additional ads. If you go to the site, you can see all the national stories stacked on the right sidebar.
The site is also in the midst of posting sprightly little columns from something called the ”The Digital Desk.” They kind of remind me of the stories you’d see at BuzzFeed but probably not click on. That’s probably a good thing because the posts are kind of boring. Here are two recent examples. Make sure you drink some caffeine before trying to read them.
6 types of people you might have seen at Norman Music Festival: My favorite is Number 6. It shows a photograph of people taking cover from rain with the caption “People who would not let rain keep them from enjoying the festival.”
20 ways people responded to news of Russell Westbrook’s injury: I have no comment about this post. That’s how awful it is.
Now this is where things get creepy. When they’re not ripping off BuzzFeed, it looks like the Digital Desk is trying to stoop down to our level and write blog posts about Oklahoman weather and weathermen! This development has led to people asking me if we’re worried that OPUBCO is trying to force us to move to Enid or something.
The short answer is “No.” Here are four reasons why:
1. It’s hard to put a fledgling blog out of business.
2. OPUBCO doesn’t have the best track record when launching new web products or ideas. These are the same people who brought us Wimgo, Cardboard Mr. Know It and Steve Lackmeyer’s Google Hangouts. I think the only successful experiment NewsOK has launched is Beat Baldwin, and in all honesty, we don’t even know what that is! I bet Mike Baldwin is still confused by the thing.
3. The articles are, well, not that great. This one about 5 Types of Oklahomans and How They React to the Weather is okay, but when you have to begin a post with a disclaimer that “this is meant to be fun, and not meant to poke fun at the serious nature of severe weather in our state,” it instantly loses its, well, fun.
Then we have this thing. It’s a blog post by Managing Digital Editor Rob Hibbard. I’ll award three bonus points to anyone who can figure it out.
The Oklahoman’s John Rohde got into a Twitter fight with the guy from Daily Thunder
Apr 25
2013
Yesterday afternoon, the NBA unveiled a new commercial featuring Russell Westbrook. It’s pretty cool. You should watch it here if you haven’t seen it.
Since he covers the Thunder for the Oklahoman, Darnell Mayberry posted the video on his blog. And since he covers the Thunder for his site Daily Thunder, Royce Young also posted the video.
This is where John Rohde stepped in.
Rohde, who apparently does not understand how the internet works, took offense that Royce would post a YouYube video on Daily Thunder without crediting The Oklahoman.
Sorry Trolls, the NewsOK commenting policy has changed
Dec 18
2012
NewsOK cares about what you think of their stories. In fact, they care so much that they’ve overhauled their commenting section and removed anonymous comments. Now a NewsOK commenter must have an active Facebook account to leave a comment.
From a blog post by NewsOK.com Managing Editor Alan Herzberger:
About the Green Dragon classified ad that’s gone viral in Oklahoma City
Dec 5
2012
If you have a Facebook page and live in Oklahoma City, there’s a good chance you’ve seen the Oklahoman classified ad asking someone to slay the green dragon that’s been seen flying around Northeast OKC.
If you’re one of the 17 people without a Facebook account and think good old Patrick’s losing his mind, I don’t blame you. Here’s the ad to prove my sanity:
