Woodbury Bulletin's news group undergoes rebranding

RiverTown Multimedia reflects mix of Web, print

The Woodbury Bulletin and its sister news organizations are rebranding their division as RiverTown Multimedia.

Individual properties will continue to strengthen their hometown identities while the group’s new name emphasizes that together they are much more than simply 10 newspapers operating under the former RiverTown Newspaper Group identity.

“We’re rebranding as RiverTown Multimedia to reflect the changes of our industry,” Division Director/Publisher Steve Messick said.

Readers in both print and online will start noticing the RiverTown Multimedia logo as it take effect June 6.

“We want to showcase how our digital products and services — including video, email marketing, mobile web, blogs and social media — can connect advertisers with our growing audience,” Messick said.

RiverTown Multimedia officials anticipate people will view more 25 million pages of locally produced content in 2012. The division had 2.27 million pageviews and 336,804 unique visitors in May alone.

The Woodbury Bulletin‘s website had 96,266 pageviews and 23,868 unique visitors last month.

The group includes Hastings Star Gazette, Farmington Independent, Rosemount Town Pages, Red Wing Republican Eagle and South Washington County Bulletin (Cottage Grove) in Minnesota and Hudson Star Observer, New Richmond News, River Falls Journal and Pierce County Herald (Ellsworth) in Wisconsin.

In addition, RiverTown Multimedia has the western Wisconsin news outlet www.rivertowns.net.

“We’re moving quickly toward completing the transformation into a 24/7 news organization where our readers connect with us electronically at work, at home and on the go via mobile devices,” Roger Sievers said. He leads the RiverTown Multimedia’s digital products.

“What began with a successful print product is truly branching out to become a powerful multimedia force,” said Woodbury Bulletin Editor Mike Longaecker.

Readers are hungry for up-to-the-minute local news that augments the newspaper they’re also receiving in their mailboxes, he said.

To complement the instantaneous, quick-hit nature of RiverTown Multimedia websites, the print editions will continue providing valuable in-depth news and local features to subscribers. They will get those pieces first, Longaecker said.

Web and print are both strong platforms for RiverTown Multimedia, Sievers and Longaecker said, and people use both.

“From print to Web, there’s no other source that can cover our community the way the Bulletin does,” Longaecker said.

Messick said RiverTown Multimedia’s presence continues to grow.

“Our mission is the same, but we do have dynamic new tools helping us deliver the news our community wants,” Messick said.

RiverTown Multimedia team members have held free digital information seminars for local business groups and chambers of commerce this spring throughout our region, Messick said.

“We’ve learned so much and know we can help equip local businesses with skills for online marketing,” he said.

Rivertown Multimedia is a division of Forum Communications Co.

http://www.rivertownmultimedia.com

Tags: news, woodbury, updates