Banner Rolls Out ‘Digital First' Initiative

McKENZIE (January 27) — The McKenzie Banner is initiating its ‘Digital First’ initiative on February 1.
Many of the news stories and calendar events will appear on The Banner’s website prior to the weekly publication in print.

In recent weeks, The Banner has increased its news-gathering staff with full-time and on-assignment photojournalists, whose job it is to gather and report the news.

The new online initiative will provide a more timely distribution of news in text and photographs. With the online format, The Banner can provide more photographs than in the print edition.

Brittany Washburn Martin, publisher, said the ‘Digital First’ initiative allows both area and distance residents to experience the news coverage throughout the week.

The Banner’s website is www.mckenziebanner.com. Some articles are free of charge, while others require an online subscription. And the news articles are archived for viewing at your convenience.
While some news sources choose to place much of their content on Facebook, we have determined that only drives traffic to Facebook not our product. Yes, our content does have a modest cost for a subscription, but just know, that gathering and publishing news is a business that is only sustainable with revenue.

 

And while we roll out the 'digital first', it is not a 'digital-only' initiative. We will continue to publish the news in the weekly print edition.

Newspapers are the only media source that consistently covers public meetings, publishes local obituaries, provides public notices and public records, such as court news, arrest reports, property transfers, marriage licenses and sports.  

A journalist from the local community newspaper is frequently the only person covering public meetings.
Even much of the discussion about community news on social media is commentary on facts reported by
journalists, not original reporting by social media sources.

We know what it’s like to be the only person in the audience of a public meeting. To us, that means the public has placed trust in us to provide the news. We are often the only ones providing in-depth coverage. Our journalists have assignments during the day, night, holidays and weekends.

We hope you enjoy this new enhanced service.