Not only are the student media at Kent State settling into their new home at Franklin Hall, but they are also settling into their new Web site.

All of the student-based mediums – the Daily Kent Stater, TV2, Black Squirrel Radio and The Burr – are now merged onto one Web site, www.kentnewsnet.com.

“You’ll be able to read the article, watch video and hear audio for that one story,” said Rory Geraghty, general manager of Black Squirrel Radio.

Ideas of merging the media organizations to one Web site initiated last year. However, the Web committee did the majority of the work during summer break.

“Over the summer months we just hammered out all the details,” Geraghty said. “So what you see is months of decision making.”

The new site has been online since Aug. 24 but didn’t truly launch until Aug. 27.

When visiting the Web page, there is a “Featured Article” section along with “Today’s Top Stories” and “Video Stories” sections. The site also provides links to FlashLine, CyBurr, Black Squirrel Radio and Kent.edu. Black Squirrel news podcasts and TV2 broadcasts will soon be accessible from the site as well.

Kristen Russo, Web designer for kentnewsnet.com, said the main goal of the site is still to keep the community informed. But she said it also “gives us the opportunity to dabble in multimedia because that’s where the field is going.”

Kentnewsnet.com is not only giving students multimedia experience but it’s also offering convenience.

Dan Shonk, senior justice studies major, said convenience is very key to his everyday life.

“Let’s face it, college students are lazy,” Shonk said, “so having all the news mediums at one place makes it a lot easier to access that information.”

Regardless of how accessible the information is, some students like sophomore education major Christine Prebul said she probably won’t visit the site. “I don’t really go out looking for media.”

Prebul said she doesn’t use her computer much, so if she wanted to read an article, she would just “go pick up a Stater.”

For the users that do decide to access the site, Russo said she hopes the site is a place where students, faculty and alumni want to go to get their news.

Trey Kauffman, director of marketing and promotions at Black Squirrel, said with the organizations coming together, it will help to “appeal to a more broader audience and get more hits.”

Geraghty said he expects a few bumps because the Web site is so new, but he also expects “big things.”

“Now that we are all literally under one roof, it’s gonna be huge.”

Contact College of Communication and Information reporter Brittany Thoma at [email protected].