Radio pioneers, corn-fed magazine launch cyber-space voyage
 |
| Easttexasradio.com's launch into cyberspace of the East Texas Journal's Agricultural and Mechanical Research Unit opens a photojournalistic side door to our back yard. |
 |
East Texas Broadcasting and the East Texas Journal are launching a voyage into cyberspace combining the romance of radio, regional photo journalism and the cutting edge of communication.
Established in 1992, the Journal bills itself as "the only corn-fed magazine in East Texas."
In 1948, when 1,000-watt AM band 960 radio KIMP had just gone on the air, a message from Mars could have been no more shocking than the fan letter arriving from Canada.
"Everybody associated with the early days of the station tells that story," said East Texas Broadcasting President Bud Kitchens. Today, the station that was once the radio landmark between Shreveport and Dallas is one of eight regional stations owned by East Texas Broadcasting.
With the launching of a joint venture with the East Texas Journal, East Texas Broadcasting is breaking new multi-media ground.
"When radio came here, it opened a new universe just like the internet has," Journal Publisher Hudson Old said. "They were pioneers. Heading into cyberspace with these guys 50 years later is a kick in the head."
East Texas Broadcasting web guru Johnny Flanagan is the expedition's navigator.
"With the addition of the Journal page to our site, we're re-formatting a general interest periodical on line," Mr. Flanagan said.
Presently, www.easttexasradio.com generates 80,000 page views monthly from an eight-county market area.
"John's daily updates from the area's most aggressive news staff have local substance, that news value good editors want," Mr. Old said. "His public service calender is tailored to the kind of people who look for the cultural edges of the place we live. That's us. That's our audience. Bud Kitchen's invitation to incorporate our work with John's is kind of like walking in the prom and having the homecoming queen fall in your arms."
Precise, a quick read by design, easttexasradio.com's format is a sharp contrast with the campy yarns spun monthly in the Journal.
"In ten years, we've compiled priceless story and photo archives," Journal Managing Editor Susan Old said. "John's work provides opportunity to showcase our work in the flashy graphics world of electronic media."