Less than two decades ago, it was commonplace to have reporters from The Star-Ledger, The News Tribune, The Home News, NJN, News 12, and other daily and weekly New Jersey and New York news outlets regularly attend Woodbridge council and school board meetings, cover press conferences, and write about any and all township news events and activities. In fact, it almost became a full-time job to answer reporter inquiries and to ensure they received accurate information in a timely manner.
But in recent years, with the downturn in the economy combined with changes in how people consume news, newsrooms across the state have been forced to reduce the day-to-day coverage that many mayors and municipalities had accepted as routine. And, just to remain operational, news outlets cut-back on their local news bureaus, which resulted in a decrease in local news coverage.
Woodbridge News We are pleased to introduce WoodbridgeNews.net.
With the help of Jaffe Communications, a Westfield-based consulting firm that specializes in helping communities, businesses and organizations communicate more effectively, we have entered into a public-private partnership to create a state-of-the art news site that looks and feels more like CNN.com than a typical municipal government site.
Our goal with this public-private partnership is to “publish” the news about Woodbridge—not to replace the traditional role of the news media. We recognize the need for the Fourth Estate to serve as a watchdog over those in power, including us here in Woodbridge.
But with fewer reporters covering our community on a daily basis, many news organizations are just not able to keep up with all the news and events that are taking place in our township. We see our own news website as a way to regularly communicate and receive the feedback we need to effectively govern.
Well aware of the municipal tax burden, we’ve made sure WoodbridgeNews.net is designed not to rely on taxpayer dollars. Just like other news websites, such as nj.com and mycentraljersey.com, advertising revenue will greatly minimize the cost of production. We expect this news site will have zero impact on the municipal budget.
Not only does WoodbridgeNews.net keep our citizens informed and engaged, but we are also providing an affordable advertising alternative to businesses and organizations in the township that want to advertise to a concentrated audience in a cost-effective way.
At one time, producing a daily news publication was cost-prohibitive for all but large corporations or wealthy individuals. It required a massive capital investment, with an editorial department, a printing plant, a press, a full sales and promotions department, a fleet of trucks, and a cadre of reporters covering every town and every event.
But changes in technology have removed the initial barriers of entry into the world of news dissemination, and have created an opportunity for municipalities, such as Woodbridge, to offer an alternative way to communicate with residents and businesses on a daily basis.
WoodbridgeNews.net harnesses the latest Web 2.0 technology, such as social media, to fill in the information void that has been left in the wake of the newspaper industry downturn. The website is the ideal dovetail for our quarterly newsletter, The Woodbridge News, which is mailed directly to every home, business and post office box in town ~ nearly 48,000 copies are produced and mailed to our more than 102,000 residents and 2,300 businesses.
In the past, we would send press releases to publications and hope that they would publish them. We would invite reporters to press conferences at Town Hall and hope they show up. We would try to convince sympathetic editors that our news is relevant. But too often towns people missed out.
Now we no longer have to rely solely on our local newspapers and radio to inform our citizens. We can immediately post our own news articles and photographs from press conferences, council meetings, and announcements about community events in a newsstyle format that people have become accustomed to. Our website is updated daily; there is always something new for residents to learn about their town.
And, Woodbridge-News.net is more than just a website. It’s an entire web presence intended to communicate across multiple platforms. On the website, we have a live stream of the Woodbridge News Facebook Page, which allows users to add friends, send messages and update their personal profiles to provide updates to those in their networks. The Woodbridge News Page is set up as a so-called fan page, which allows users to become fans of the Woodbridge News.
Anyone who becomes a fan will receive updates whenever we post them to the page. The updates include links back to the news site for the full story. WoodbridgeNews.net is also on Twitter, another social networking site that allows users to send 140-character messages to anyone who is following them. For those who decide to follow us on Twitter, we provide up-to-the minute updates on happenings in our township.
We also have a easy-to-read mobile version of the WoodbridgeNews.net. for those in town who get their news on Blackberries, iPhones and Palms. And, as a communications compliment to our new WoodbridgeNews.net, I have opened my own Facebook Page and Twitter network to alert readers and friends to all of the current events, concerts, plays, community blood drives and food collection programs — just about everything happening in town is now accessible via WoodbridgeNews.net and my Facebook and Twitter connection.
WoodbridgeNews.net is a win-win for the taxpayers of our township. We believe it is the wave of the future. Woodbridge is proud to be the first municipality in New Jersey, we believe, to take this important step in keeping our citizenry informed in a cost-effective manner. And, as the newspaper industry continues to evolve and reinvent itself — and we’ll do what we can as a municipality to help the news industry continue to cover and report on our community. Our own website, WoodbridgeNews.net, will be a great added resource to tell our story and, most importantly, stay connected with township residents.
Check out WoodbridgeNews.net and let us know what you think. You will see plenty of ways to get in touch with us.
