May 24, 2010

Bill Clinton – A Story Wherever He Goes …

Former President Bill Clinton visiting Yale is a good story in itself, but FOX CT Reporter John Charlton was able to get an exclusive interview with him on Sunday as Clinton headed into the university’s campus for his Class Day speech. The interview was a must-see as Clinton divulged details of the accident he was involved in en route to Yale, his memories of New Haven and his health. The video and story were quickly posted to the web, and the information gathered for the story also transitioned nicely into an A1 story for print.

Read the story on courant.com.



CT Employment Numbers Get Play…

Unemployment numbers are reported quite often in the news, but Courant Reporter Mara Lee and Photographer Mark Mirko gave the topic a makeover, telling it through the eyes of a woman who recently landed a new job. The A1 story on the latest employment numbers written by Lee, coupled with video shot by Mirko, helped make the TV version of the monthly unemployment numbers story compelling and engaging for viewers.

Read the story on courant.com



Cross Media Promotion Boosts Morning News Ratings

The Creative Services Department helped boost the Morning News ratings with an innovative “win and watch” promotion designed around FOX season finales. Working with a new and large client, PC Richard and Son, FOX CT gave away 16 40” Sony TVs in the “HDTV Giveaway” promotion, which encouraged viewers over an eight-day period to watch the 7 to 8 a.m. newscast in order to call in and win. Phone lines were busy for the hour and winners delighted in the fact they could watch their favorite FOX programs on their new TVs. The contest was heavily promoted with print ads, on-air promos, a billboard and online including a landing page. This is an good example of how our cross media promotions positively influence sales (giving a new client instant access to the Connecticut market) and news (boosting ratings).



PC Richard and Son TV Contest



PC Richard and Son on Morning News





LiveSmart Content Makes Month Long Appearance…

During the month of May, LiveSmart came on like gangbusters as stories ran everyday in the morning and evening newscasts with complementary pieces in print and online. To help bolster ratings during May sweeps, LiveSmart was heavily promoted as a useful tool for readers and viewers.

May 21, 2010

Summer Fun Goes Cross Platform

The Connecticut Summer Fun Guide hits newsstands on May 23 and is an excellent example of how we can enhance our product offerings better than any media company in the market. The special publication, produced in the marketing department, is the ultimate guide to the offbeat as well as better known attractions in Connecticut, from Litchfield County to the shoreline. There are bonus pages on the Pioneer Valley in western Massachusetts and an extensive golf guide. To take it up a notch, FOX CT reporters Sarah Cody and Jim Altman, known for their DayTrippers segments, are on the cover donning their summer garb and promoting their favorite picks for summer fun, which are featured on page 2 of the guide.



Blumenthal Remarks Stir Up Controversy…

Remarks made by Attorney General Richard Blumenthal in regard to his military service recently developed into a robust cross-platform story that only CT1 Media can deliver. We had intense online coverage throughout the day including stories by Courant staffers, TV reports, blog updates, photos and video from the FOX CT/Courant March debate (also appeared on huffingtonpost.com and washingtonpost.com) in which Blumenthal addressed the issue of his military service. CT1 Media also carried live coverage of his 2 p.m. press conference on TV, and on courant.com and ctnow.com. Courant contributor Kevin Rennie appeared on the Morning News to discuss his scoop that the McMahon campaign did the research and fed the New York Times’ story. FOX CT reporter Laurie Perez cornered Linda McMahon at the annual GOP dinner on May 19, getting her to admit that her campaign had fed material to the NY Times for its story on Blumenthal. It was the first admission of involvement by McMahon herself. And, courant.com had its second-best day of all time with 88,452 unique visitors to the site on May 18.

For all of CT1 Media's Blumenthal coverage, visit courant.com.







Getting A Date For The Prom Was Never This Big…

CT1 Media produced a story that was perfect for our cross-platform coverage. FOX CT Reporter John Charlton and Chief Photographer Mike Piskorski shot a story about a Cheshire teen’s online prom date invite to YouTube celebrity Jesse Fowler, aka JuicyStar07. The invite and news package made for great TV and a web feature. It aired on the News at Ten, and was reworked by Editor Nancy Gallinger for print, running on B1 on May 13 in The Courant with a high-quality frame grab. Web Producers Doug Stewart and Sarah Grant jumped in, employing terrific social networking strategies to push the video out on the web to help generate additional page views.

Read more on this story on ctnow.com.

See CTnow.com on YouTube.

Another Battered Life Ends In Tragedy
CT1 Media's ongoing coverage of domestic violence continued this week with the recent murder in Wolcott. The “Battered Lives” series is a great example of how we utilize the strengths of all of our platforms to report on these tragedies. Documents on this domestic violence homicide gathered by Courant Reporter David Owens outlined the bloody trail police used to charge the suspect and were central to our cross media reporting. Narmeen Choudhury used this key information in her on-air report, pushing viewers to the documents online. A frame grab from the arraignment was also used in the print portion of the report.





Read more on courant.com: Wolcott Domestic Violence Murder

Speaking Of The Battered Lives Series…

Recently, legislation that benefits domestic violence victims in Connecticut was passed thanks in part to CT1 Media’s ongoing coverage and efforts to help raise awareness through the Battered Lives series. Our outstanding journalism has made a significant impact on the lives of Connecticut women – a great accomplishment for our company.

Check out the story online: "House Passes Three Bills Dealing With Domestic Violence."



It Started With A Good Idea…

FOX CT Producer Michael Hayes came across information about a local company in Shelton that makes the booms being used to help control the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He passed the information on and FOX CT Photographer Ryan Bernat shot and reported the story. From there, the story was repositioned as a Business page centerpiece, using a frame grab and the information that had been gathered by Bernat.

You can read the story on ctnow.com: "Slickbar Products In Seymour Providing Oil-Containment Booms For Gulf Of Mexico Spill"

May 7, 2010

Times Square Bomber:

Coverage of the Times Square bomber grew into a robust cross media story as key developments involving details of the suspect’s history in Connecticut were uncovered by Courant investigative reporters. After obtaining the information for print, it was sent over to FOX CT for use in team coverage. The TV crew was out in in the early morning hours at the scene working on the developing story. Frame grabs were posted to our sites along with the story and video from our reports. This positioned CT1 Media as the dominant organization to tell the story of the bomber on air, in print and online.

Read the story:
Faisal Shahzad 'Blended In' Until He Quit Job, Returned To Pakistan



Reardon Rears His Ugly Head

The Dr. George Reardon case was resurrected recently as the legislation to remove the statue of limitations on molestation in the state of Connecticut was rescinded. This presented an excellent opportunity to take our journalism to the next level. Courant writer Arielle Levin Becker found a family with four sons who were allegedly abused by Reardon in one day – sequentially – and interviewed one of them. The interview was filmed, helping turn her print article into a multiplatform story. Print could not have easily portrayed the emotional part of the victim’s story and TV could not have given viewers an in-depth look at the legal side. Online tied it all together.

Read the 4/29/2010 story:

Brothers Come To Grips With Being Sexually Abused In 1968 By St. Francis Doctor

See the Reardon archive here.


LiveSmart

CT1 Media continues to produce more LiveSmart content across all platforms. The travel apps LiveSmart piece was a great example of how CT1 Media turned good content into quality work on all platforms. The piece was reported and put together for TV by Rick Hancock. Rick passed on the info to Kevin Hunt, who then worked with Vada Crosby to turn it into a visually engaging business page centerpiece in the paper. Online, the story included Rick’s video and photos of the apps.

Read the story Plenty Of Apps To Help Airline Travelers



CTnow.com Has A Little Fun With Cinco de Mayo

On Wednesday, May 5, CTnow.com got a little festive for Cinco de Mayo adding flare to the CTnow graphic. CT1 Media will continue to add some kick to our websites and newspaper masthead throughout the year. Stay tuned.