News and the Internet

News Web sites provide
Iowans with greater variety

March 16, 2004

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Missed the 5 p.m. news, and dying to know what's happening in the world? The answer is simple, and quicker than waiting until 6 or 10 p.m.: Visit your favorite station's URL.

Diane Kockler, managing editor of KCCI's Web site, www.theiowachannel.com, spends her days updating the site with all the information an Iowan needs to know. The site holds news that's featured on KCCI but also snippets of news from across the country. Dubbed as the only channel in Iowa that has a full-time managing editor and staff to constantly update page, KCCI's site gives Iowans, and Americans, the news at the click of the mouse.

"We have a strong emphasis on news," Kockler said. "We're the only TV station in central Iowa to have a managing editor of the Web site who is constantly updating local news. TheIowaChannel also has a great team working on national news around the clock Ñ which includes adding video and images."

Kockler works daily uploading stories, but her job doesn't stop there.

"In a typical day I write about 20 to 25 stories, upload half a dozen pieces of video, and add dozens of pictures to the site," Kockler said. "I write all the local news stories, upload KCCI video, images, and create station promotional material like contests, community programs. News stories come from KCCI's reporting and the AP wire."

Kockler isn't the only one sitting in front of the computer screen updating the site. She works with a staff of about 10 people in Des Moines who help to post local stories throughout the day, and has a staff that spends their day updating national news. Instead of just using the AP wire, KCCI is part of a national network that allows stations to share stories.

More and more, television and newspaper Web sites are serving as a community outreach function, not just a news source. WHO-TVs Web site, www.whotv.com, allows visitors to "Ask the expert," giving visitors a chance to have questions answered free of charge. Visitors can ask questions to doctors, plumbers, landscapers or cell phone providers, and get a response a few days later.

Kockler said her site allows the water cooler conversation to continue, in a world where water coolers have become obsolete.

"In Web land, my biggest 'hit' time is the 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. zone, when most workers are on a lunch break and can surf the Web," Kockler said. "We try to foster a community online where people can share their ideas, feedback and discuss topics."

Web forums have hit a high on television and newspaper Web sites. "Web Extras" are an often-visited feature of www.desmoinesregister.com. The homepage features legislative information and supplements to stories that ran in the newspaper. Similar things can be found at larger market newspapers.

Iowa newspapers can be found on the Web at 50states.com.

While everyone with a computer benefits from television and newspaper Web sites, Kockler said it's those people who can't make it to the television she suspects use her site the most.

"A Web site reinforces a TV station, and vice versa," Kockler said. "We have our biggest audience during the day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. These are the people who are at work and can't be near a TV. They depend on news sites like TheIowaChannel to know what's going on in the world, in the metro and around the state."

Kockler said her site receives about 300,000 hits on a typical day. While she said there is no way to tell where the viewers are located, she said she suspects most of them are in the station's viewing area. The station covers all of central Iowa and much of northern and southern Iowa, and e-mail shows that's where the visitors are coming from. But not all visitors are current Iowans.

"Our Web site is also a big hit with former Iowans who have moved away and check the site often to keep up with what's going on back home," Kockler said.