By Alle Rorie

The Kernel will launch a new mixed-media Web site today to deliver news in a way that goes beyond text and still pictures.

Mixed media is an approach to reporting that involves piecing together audio clips, videos, photos and text to deliver news, said Brad Luttrell, editor of Kernel Mixed Media (www.kernelmixedmedia.com).

“It’s a beautiful way to tell stories,” Luttrell said. “You can convey a message in five minutes that is so powerful.”

The launch of the new site will deliver news to UK students in ways the Kernel never has done before, Luttrell said.

“In many ways, this is the start of a new publication,” said Chris Poore, UK student publications director and Kernel adviser. “It has its own editor and even its own style.”

Several stories will be accessible on the site today, including a feature story on Miss Lexington pageant winner Dana Elliot, a package on wheelchair basketball tournaments, a piece from a reporter who spent a night riding along with UK police, and recent footage of tornado destruction in Jackson, Tenn.

With the Internet providing a new outlet for journalism, Web sites with mixed-media stories have become a popular feature for newspapers, Poore said.

“Traditional dailies are changing dramatically, and our students will need to tell stories using all kinds of media,” Poore said. “Hopefully this will transcend all kinds of storytelling, using audio, video, still pictures and even graphics.”

Kernel Mixed Media is most of the staff’s first experience with these forms of journalism.

“We are all kind of jumping in head first with this, because we don’t have much experience with it,” said News Editor Juliann Vachon. “But it is a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.”

Luttrell said the site is more photo-driven than the paper’s current Web site (www.50.63.25.108) but is a similar format to what other papers are doing.

“I think the Kernel is smart to do what the editors are attempting to do,” said Mike Farrell, assistant professor of journalism. “Newspapers all over the country are conducting the same experiments.”