Patriot Talon’s New Website

February 11, 2013

UT Tyler Office of Marketing and Communications

Patriot Talon at UT Tyler Announces New Website

February 11, 2013

Media Contact:  Hannah Buchanan
Editor/Writer–Strategic Communications & Media Relations
Marketing and Communications
The University of Texas at Tyler
903.539.7196 (cell)

February 11, 2013

The Patriot Talon, the award-winning student media outlet at The University of Texas at Tyler, will launch a new website on Feb. 12, Kevin Dilley, Patriot Talon adviser, announced.

The Patriot Talon has coordinated their efforts with the company TownNews to create the new website.

Staff members will hold a launch party for the UT Tyler community 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12 in the University Center foyer.

“This new website will be a ‘go-to source’ for news and information on campus,” Dilley said. “It features more opportunities to showcase multimedia journalism, such as stories told using audio, video and interactive content. We started this process last spring with a request to the Student Fee Advisory Committee, who awarded the Patriot Talon $4,500 to use in building a new website.”

With Talon editor-in-chief Andy Taylor spearheading the process, the choice was made to go with TownNews because of ease of use, costs and reputation after looking at several other vendors, he added.

TownNews is a leading publishing and revenue solution focused specifically on news organizations. By using a content management system, called BLOX Total CMS, TownNews is able to integrate articles, videos, photos, graphics and other content into a single system for print, online and mobile usage. Out of 600 news publications in the United States that use their BLOX CMS, a number of universities have begun using their software, including Vanderbilt University, the University of Hawaii and UT Arlington.

The Patriot Talon, a public forum, is designed to inform, entertain, educate and heighten awareness of students, faculty, staff and administrators at UT Tyler. Serving as a learning tool to help students gain experience in all aspects of the media, the Patriot Talon also encourages and provides an avenue for a free flow of student expressions and opinions.

For more information about the Patriot Talon, contact Dilley, 903.566.6120 or kdilley@uttyler.edu.

One of the 15 campuses of the UT System, UT Tyler offers excellence in teaching, research, artistic performance and community service. More than 80 undergraduate and graduate degree programs are available at UT Tyler, which has an enrollment of almost 7,000 high-ability students at its campuses in Tyler, Longview and Palestine.