PAULINE'S PICKS: Bakersfield.com Uses a Special Section For Murder Case Coverage

By: Pauline Millard A local murder story can earn newspaper coverage for months, especially once the trial starts. But once things get rolling, it can be hard to keep track of all the developments and all the features that may spring up. How to keep up?

Enter the Internet. One of the many joys of focusing one's efforts online is that a newspaper can create special section that change as the story does. Large news agencies do this sort of things for events such as the Olympics and during awards season, but it can work on a smaller scale as well.

Over at Bakersfield.com, they embraced an online special section when a resident and vice principal, Vincent Brothers, was on trial for five counts of first-degree murder for killing his wife, three children and his mother-in-law.

There's all sorts of things to check out on the site. There are plenty of print stories to read for in-depth coverage and analysis. There's a box that explains the key players in case, including the victims. There's also a timeline that succinctly explains the history of the case long before the crime was committed.

What kinds of special sections has your paper done? I'd love to see them.

Here are some of my past Picks:

LATimes.com Looks At The Health Of Our Oceans

The 'Star-Tribune' Looks at Liberians in Minnesota

OCRegister.com Creates Photo Gallery of California Wildfires