Our View: People continue to rely on sources they trust, Part 2

Talk about it

A famous quote by author-humorist Mark Twain may also apply to 21st Century community newspapers: “The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

Despite what you may have heard about the state of affairs for newspapers in general these days, locally-based community publications like the Woodbury Bulletin are still alive — and growing.

In his April 29 Bulletin editorial column, William Marcil refers to the premature contention that newspapers are dying.

Marcil is the publisher of The Forum newspaper and CEO of Forum Communications Co., parent company of the Woodbury Bulletin. He also speaks of the important roles newspapers continue to play.

This is why the Woodbury Bulletin remains vital. We have loyal readers who still strongly desire what only community newspapers like ours can provide to them. We make this contention by way of a few “numbers” we see for our company.

On any given week, our traditional print version has a roughly 15,000-person readership. We wouldn’t have so many readers on a regular basis if they didn’t feel we were worthy of their attention and time.

The Internet incarnation of the Woodbury Bulletin attracts even greater readership. For example, in October 2008 in the days leading up to the following month’s general election we had in excess of 100,000 pageviews on our website.

Our current website tallies remain high, increasing each week as more and more visitors find us on the Internet and become regular readers of our site. In fact, over the course of one year, our average monthly pageview counts have tripled.

Today, we do a better job than ever of delivering the news and advertising, because we can bring it immediately to our website at any time.

Between the two versions of the Woodbury Bulletin — weekly print and daily Internet — readers will find the community items they want most. The Bulletin is filled with stories and photos pertaining to breaking news, city and county government, sports, schools, business, faith, feature articles and opinions.

It’s also a place for area merchants and companies to advertise goods or services that Woodbury Bulletin readers need — or want to know more about.

No one delivers Woodbury and Afton information better than — and to such a degree as — the Woodbury Bulletin.

Certainly, there are challenges the newspaper business as a whole is facing in the current economic climate, as is the case for other sorts of industries these days.

But like other industries, there are bright spots still shining in the economic gloom. In the print industry, it’s community newspapers. And the Woodbury Bulletin is your community newspaper.

Jeff Patterson is publisher of the Woodbury Bulletin, the South Washington County Bulletin, the Stillwater Courier and Lake Elmo Leader. Forum Communications Co. is the parent company of these and the other newspapers in the RiverTown Newspaper Group.

Tags: opinion, patterson, woodbury, sources, readers, newspapers, forum, marcil