Digital News Media Tools

As most people know, journalism has been changing as technology has changed.  Most newspapers have a website and some have even more. For this post I chose Hartford Courant. The Hartford Courant is the biggest paper in Connecticut and is the oldest in the nation.
When thinking about it, one wouldn't think that The Hartford Courant isn't terribly old, but in fact it is the oldest paper in the nation.  It originated in 1764 as a weekly paper printed by a man named Thomas Green; who, then eventually sold it to his assistant, Ebenezer Watson.  If you want to know anymore about the Courant's history click on this link.

Snow Storm coming our way.

The Hartford Courant is very structured in its online set-up.  They have the updated news on the top; which in the past few days a lot of it has been about the up-coming snow storm. They are a very up-to-date website.  The journalists that are in charge of their website do a good job of keeping every thing new.

latest news 

On the left side of the latest news, there is a strip of their latest news.  This enables the reader to look at other news articles that the Courant has written in the past few weeks with ease.

At the bottom of the page there is an option to read "More News."  Clicking on that will send you to another page.  This one has their breaking news coverage of all different media advisories (brief breaking news clips.).
Their website format and layout does not change from day to day.  The stories will be changed and updated.  However, the layout of the website stays the same.  This makes it easy for the "regulars" who read the Courant.

As technology has changed, so has the way the Courant likes to keep their readers updated. The organization started off being a paper, and then started by posting their stories online.  If that isn't enough, the social media sites have taken their publicity to a whole new level.

Not only did they have a newspaper and a website, but The Courant also has a Twitter and a Facebook; which are other way to reach out to their readers with news updates.  The Courant has four different ways to be read.  Viewers/readers have the ability to read it by print, their online website, Facebook, Twitter , and even an app for smartphones.

Their Facebook and Twitter accounts are just as updated as their main website. Every few hours another post or tweet has been created.
Facebook and Twitter are integrated into the main website at the top of the page. They have some of their tweets shown on the website after the breaking news.
If that is not enough to spread the news, the app makes it portable. The app is for people who are always on the go.  They can just take out their smartphones or tablets and read.

The Courant has really leaped in to the digital media tools and they are using them to their full effects.  Using all these tools just makes their viewers grow. For instance, their Facebook Page has 20,273 likes and their the Courant's Twitter has 28.1K followers.

In "Journalism Next," by Mark Briggs, Briggs talks about how important social media has become in today's world; especially in journalism.
"The rate of growth makes it obvious how important these concepts and tools are for online communities today," said Briggs.

Briggs talks about how it all began as comments on news stories and blog posts blossomed into a full social networking tool for news organizations with full participation in this new world of journalism.
These tools are a great way to connect with the readers more and build a better, stronger relationship between the journalist and the reader. News is not just reporting events to the public anymore.  It's a conversation.