New technology can help news organizations break through the static

While the coal mine disaster in West Virginia produced great front page stories, Arianna Huffington said, the real work begins on piecing together the story as new information comes in. She said new technology helps news organizations follow up on a story.

"New technologies allow us to stay on the story and develop the story in bits and pieces as the story comes in," Huffington said.

Above all, Huffington said, news organizations need to be able to break through to reach people and make a difference in their lives. She cited coverage of the Iraq War as an example of how news coverage does not always have a meaningful impact on the everyday reader.

"How do we do journalism that breaks through the static, captures the public imagination and has an impact,"Huffington said. "We have not been able to do this in a way that is transformational."

By Andy Medici