Criterion Web site grows during first year, launches new blog

By Brandon A. Evans

In the year since The Criterion Online Edition was launched on Jan. 13, 2005, many new features have been added, and another major component has just been created.

During its first year, the online edition has garnered about 75,000 visitors who have collectively looked at more than a quarter million pages.

The Web site has served as a place for access to more local photos and videos, an option for breaking news stories and as a resource for extended national and world news coverage.

The major events that the online edition provided unique coverage for included the death of Pope John Paul II, the election of Pope Benedict XVI, the archdiocesan pilgrimage to World Youth Day, the untimely death of Father Justin Martin and the archdiocesan Year of the Eucharist celebration.

Now there are two new ventures for the Web site.

First is The Criterion Online Blog (www.criteriononline.blogspot.com), which will serve as a single location to not only learn about the latest news locally, nationally and internationally, but also to make comments on various posted stories.

A “blog” is a shortened term for “Web log,” which is a regular series of messages posted on a Web site—sort of like an ongoing journal.

In the case of The Criterion Online Blog, several staff members will post each day; for instance, a reporter may post a link to a Catholic news story from Ohio, or the online editor may link to a breaking news story from the archdiocese.

Many of the posts will also offer readers the chance to click a button and send the online editor comments to be added to each news story.

The Criterion staff members who will be posting on the blog are Brandon A. Evans, online editor; Mike Krokos, editor; Mary Ann Wyand, senior reporter; Sean Gallagher, reporter; and Greg Otolski, acting director of communications.

The Criterion is also offering, for the first time, a complete digital archive of its 2005 issues on CD.

The disc includes all the local news stories and coverage from last year as well as an abundance of photos, all of Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein’s columns—in text and audio format—and viewable versions of each edition of the newspaper as they appeared in print.

The disc is based on the coverage provided online, and can be ordered for $5 by logging on to www.archindy.org/cd or calling 317-236-1577.

The year ahead also promises more improvements to The Criterion Online Edition.

It will be part of a massive redesign of the whole archdiocesan Web site (www.archindy.org), which will be happening throughout this year with a launch most likely in the summer.

(To view our online edition, log on to www.CriterionOnline.com. Any questions or comments may be e-mailed to webmaster@archindy.org.) †