Our-Hometown’s Digital Initiative is a program aimed at helping newspaper associations grow their members’ web presence with a modern, mobile-friendly website program that will help them attract new audiences and new revenue opportunities.

Publishers who are enrolled in the Initiative will get a brand new website designed by Our-Hometown, pre-equipped with all of the tools needed for growing an audience and bringing in some additional revenue.

First and foremost, Digital Subscriptions offer a brand new stream of revenue for any newspapers who don’t currently have a website or don’t offer paid digital subscriptions. Our Social Media Autopost tool allows publishers to immediately share their newest content to various social media platforms to help bring in some new readers, while our Newsletter feature allows publishers to reach existing readers in just a few clicks.

If this sounds like a program that could benefit your Press Association’s members, you can use the options below to learn more about the Digital Initiative!

Click Schedule a Meeting Today to set up a meeting with Our-Hometown’s team to discuss the program and how it can help your publication, or click Attend Upcoming Webinar to register for our live informative session about the Digital Initiative on September 4th at 1PM EST!

If you’ve heard enough and are interested in enrolling in the program, simply fill out the application below and our team will reach out within a few business days!

The post Join our Digital Initiative! first appeared on Our-Hometown.

The three pillars of accountability established by the Government in the Sunshine Act include the distribution of public notices, FOIA, and open access to public meetings. Serving as a neutral entity that is both free from outside influence and publicly accessible, newspapers have held the distinction of being a community’s primary source for public notices. These notices, in turn, have provided papers with a consistent revenue source that has helped maintain their operations.

As news coverage across the country shrinks, many communities have been left without a consistent source of local news. The UNC Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media defines these “news deserts” as “a community, either rural or urban, with limited access to the sort of credible and comprehensive news and information that feeds democracy at the grassroots level.” 

Based on 2025 reports by Northwestern MEDILL, the number of communities without a reliable local news source has hit a record high in the past year. 136 newspapers have closed in the past year, leading to 213 counties being considered “news deserts,” and an additional 1,524 counties only having one active newspaper.

There is some hope, though, as many publishers and local governments are taking steps to adapt to the modern media environment. In 2025, 80% of local news startups in the past five years have been digital publications. With new publications adopting a more digital-focused and cost-effective model, state and local legislators are revising many of their guidelines around public notices.

The past year has seen the passage of at least nine pieces of legislation directly referencing the lack of newspapers in specific communities, which now allows public notices to be published either on a digital news website or within a newspaper adjacent to or related to the region without a dedicated publication of its own. These laws span across multiple states, including Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, South Dakota, and Texas.

While some may see this loosening of guidelines around public notice publication as a step towards reducing the role newspapers play in community accountability, it is preferable to the move towards removing newspaper publication requirements entirely, as some states have begun passing. 

The main takeaway from this development is that digital news publications can now be seen as equally valid as print newspapers. This is further enforced by the number of states that have moved within the past year to begin developing digital databases exclusively dedicated to public notices. 

As these trends continue, companies like Our-Hometown are developing paths forward to both help legacy papers increase their digital publication capabilities through programs like the Digital Initiative and increase coverage areas to combat news deserts through their Public Meetings tools.

The post How News Deserts Impact Public Notice Legislation first appeared on Our-Hometown.

Some state governments have recently begun attempting to implement new laws to mandate a digital-first publishing policy for public notices. Citing the waning relevance of print media, these institutions argue that digital notice publication would increase the accessibility of this information to the wider public.

Beyond the negative impact this change would have on their financial viability, many newspapers argue that digital-only public information would actually reduce the trustworthiness of this information. With government-controlled public information dissemination, facts can be skewed or omitted that otherwise wouldn’t be if published by an independent institution. Digital records are also much easier to change or outright remove than information that is physically printed and preserved.

This debate has prompted many states to come to a compromise where all records that are required to be published in a Newspaper of Public Record must also be made available on that publication’s website or within a statewide directory of notices. Currently, 20 states have outlined guidelines and requirements for the digital publication of public notices in partnership with newspapers. 

In order to maintain this compromise, it is more vital than ever for newspapers to establish an online presence. A thriving digital news website proves that a publication has the relevance required to justify its designation as a Newspaper of Record and that it is the best possible outlet for disseminating public information. 

Many statewide press associations have taken on a critical role in preserving the connection between public notices and newspapers. Part of their strategy in working with lawmakers to strengthen this connection has been ensuring as many members as possible are publishing digitally. As Betsy Edwards, Executive Director of the Virginia Press Association, explains: “We would not want those legislators to drill too deep and find out that there were a dozen newspapers that were VPA members that didn’t have a website because that kind of like ruins our argument quite honestly.”

Forty-five states, including Virginia, have also created digital repositories of public notices that are linked to each newspaper’s website in the state. , This removes some of the administrative burden of publishing notices online for individual papers while keeping them separated from government institutions. 

While public notices are just one element of a publication’s responsibility and business model, they serve a critical role in maintaining the public utility of each region’s newspaper. Adding digital public and legal notices not only helps to strengthen this connection but also opens these local institutions up to wider visibility and revenue opportunities.

The post The Fight to Save Public Notices Relies on Digital Publishing first appeared on Our-Hometown.

Blue Host

1. Log in to your Bluehost Account Manager: Access your account through the Bluehost website. 
2. Navigate to Accounts & Users: Click on the profile icon (top right) and select “Accounts & Users”. 
3. Manage the Account: Locate the account you want to manage and click the “MANAGE” button. 
4. Add a User: Scroll down to the “User Roles & Permissions” section and click the “+ ADD USER” button. 
5. Enter User Details: Input the new user’s name (Our-Hometown) and email address (ops@our-hometown.com). Choose the appropriate “Administrator” role from the dropdown menu. 
6. Send Invitation: Click “INVITE” to send an email invitation to the user.

GoDaddy

1. Go to your GoDaddy Delegate Access page. You might be prompted to sign in.
2. In the People who can access my account section, select Invite to Access.
   
3. Enter the Name (Our-Hometown) and Email address (ops@our-hometown.com).
   
4. Select the “Domains Only” access level.
   
5. Select Invite.

Host Gator

1. Log in to your HostGator Customer Portal: Go to the HostGator website and log in to your account. 
2. Access User Roles & Permissions: Navigate to the “Account & Users” section, select your account, and then find the “User Roles & Permissions” section. 
3. Add a New User: Click the “+ Add User” button. 
4. Enter User Details: Provide the user’s name (Our-Hometown) and email address (ops@our-hometown.com). 
5. Assign the Administrator Role: Select “Admin” as the user’s role, granting them full access to your account except for updating the primary and WHOIS registrant information. 
6. Send the Invitation: Click the “Invite” button to send an email invitation to the user. 

Name Cheap

1.  Sign in to your Namecheap account (The Sign In option is available in the header of the page).
2. Select Domain List from the left sidebar and click on the Manage option in front of the domain name you would like to share access for:
   
3. Choose the Sharing & Transfer tab from the top menu and find the Share Access section. Simply input the new manager’s email address (ops@our-hometown.com) into the New Manager field and click Add:
   
4. Enter your account password in the appropriate field to confirm that you wish to share access to these settings with your new domain manager:
   

Network Solutions

Please add “admin@our-hometown.com” to your Network Solutions account with the role of “Technical” following the instructions below:

Accessing Users & Roles/Accounts & Users

1. Log in to your Network Solutions® account via https://www.networksolutions.com/my-account/login.
2. Click the drop-down arrow next to your name on the upper right corner of your Account Manager’s Main Dashboard.
3. Select Users & Roles or Accounts & Users.
   
   Note: Customers with a single account will see Users & Roles under My Profile, while customers with multiple accounts will see Accounts & Users.

Sending Account User Invite

Once you have accessed the Users & Roles or Accounts & Users page, please follow the steps below:

1. Click the +ADD USER button under User Roles & Permissions.
2. Once a pop-up window appears, please enter the Name and Email of the user you would like to invite.
3. Select the user’s role, then click INVITE.
   

The post Domain Transfer Guide first appeared on Our-Hometown.

Blocks

The biggest advantage the Block Editor presents is that What You See Is What You Get. This means that your published article will look very similar to the editor’s layout without requiring much additional tweaking to style sheets or HTML. 

This is primarily accomplished through the use of “Blocks,” which are individual sections you can add to the page that each has its own built-in formatting. Just click the “+” button at the top of the editor to add a Block to the bottom of the post, or use the “+” at the bottom of any individual Block to add one directly under it.

Once Blocks are added, they can be moved freely throughout the page without requiring any additional copying and pasting. To rearrange a Block, just use the arrows that appear in the top left corner of the Block’s frame, or click and drag it using the grid button located between the movement arrows.

Formatting

You can also change the formatting of a single Block using the menu that appears at the top of each Block or using the panel along the right-hand side of the editor. This can be useful if you want a specific paragraph to be styled differently such as for subheads or annotations.

Other Block types can be added as you write to construct your articles visually instead of constantly trying to tweak formatting. Some commonly used Block types include Images, Quotes, Buttons, and YouTube Videos.

Another useful aspect of the Block is how it handles Links. Hyperlinks can be added simply by pasting them over a highlighted word, removing the hassle of needing to use a link tool. You can also create Anchor Links to link to different sections of the same article, which can be useful for readers navigating long pieces and can increase your article’s SEO.

Publishing

Once you’ve added all of the content to your article, your high-level publishing settings can be adjusted all from the right-hand column. Use the Document tab to view these settings and adjust the article’s Published status, add a Featured Image, and assign Categories and Editions.

These are just the broad strokes of everything you can accomplish with the Block Editor, a tool that can help new digital publishers to visualize their writing and help experienced pros to streamline their publishing process.

The post OHT Feature Guide – WordPress Block Editor first appeared on Our-Hometown.

Automation

• New Advertising Opportunities Created by the Audio Podcast Boom | Today in News Tech
• Local Journalism Sustainability Act, Audio Articles Playlists, and Apple Reduces App Revenue Share | Today in News Tech
• News Brief: New Advertising Opportunities Created by the Audio Podcast Boom

Acquisition

• Using Audio for Audience Engagement, Kevin Slimp Announcement, Mobile Displays with Florida Weekly | Today in News Tech
• Apple’s Subscription Podcast Program Grows | Today in News Tech
• When does a newspaper need an app? | Today in News Tech
• Podcasting advice gained from five years of publishing | Today in News Tech

Monetization

• Evaluating the use of AI for newsrooms | Today in News Tech
• East Aurora Advertiser podcast episode exemplifies use of audio
• E&P Webinar Recap – Apps and Audio News for Mobile Readers
• This week in Journalism: Digital Subscriptions Rising, Text-to-Audio, and more
• All the news that’s fit to podcast: Newspapers try out audio

Audio Articles from Our Hometown

With podcasting experiencing a boom in both audience growth and ad revenue, there’s never been a better time to invest in audio content. 

Audio can open up content to an entirely new audience who doesn’t have the time or ability to sit and read the news on a regular basis.

Our Hometown developed Audio Articles as a way for publishers to quickly and easily convert their news stories into easily-consumable audio files.

The text-to-speech is converted automatically using AI and will appear in various forms throughout a publications website. Audio Articles can also be easily uploaded as podcasts via an RSS feed.

• Audio Article Premium Samples
• Audio Articles Playlist update – Our-Hometown

The post Audio News in 2022: Automation, Acquisition, & Monetization first appeared on Our-Hometown.

Today in News Tech is Our Hometown’s new hub of news and commentary about the world of digital publishing. Each day, we share the most important stories impacting  publishers ranging from new technological innovations to keeping tabs on the Big Tech corporations that control the direction of the industry.

With Today in News Tech, we strive to provide all publishers with concise and informative information through blog posts, audio articles, and video podcasts. The site serves as a resource to anyone looking for quick updates on what’s happening as well as a hub of links for anyone looking to do a deeper dive on every topic we cover.

We hope to turn Today in News Tech into yet another useful tool to help journalists navigate the world of digital publishing and as a way to showcase the Our Hometown WordPress platform in action.

The post Introducing Today in News Tech first appeared on Our-Hometown.

Today, we’re looking at some promising statistics coming from the recent launch of News & Review’s new website and implementation of Our Hometown’s Social Media Autopost feature.

News & Review is a community paper located in Monticello, IN who was in a bit of a unique situation; They had a very strong following on Facebook that just wasn’t translating into website traffic.

The initial strategy for the weekly publication was to publish stories to the website along with posting the entirety of the content directly to their Facebook page. This ended up being great for building an audience, earning News & Review’s page over 20,000 followers. 

The problem then, was that they weren’t being steered towards the paper’s website. This was great for building the brand, but cut off revenue opportunities from advertising  and subscriptions.

Our Hometown helped News & Review to implement Social Media Autopost to try solving this problem and the results were better than we could have expected.

The Social Media Autopost feature plugs directly into Our Hometown’s WordPress backend and allows users to shedule posts for all of their social platforms in the same place they post their articles to the website.

Along with adding Autopost, News & Review also modified their social strategy. Now, each post contains an article excerpt and a link that directs followers back to the new website. 

Within the first day of implementing these changes, the website had gained hundreds of new views. 

And over the course of the first day of using their updated social strategy, News & Review logged 1,604 visits, exceeding their previous peak of 240.

This experience has reinforced our belief that a strong social media strategy can greatly help a paper to build an audience as long as it’s working in tandem with the paper’s core website. 

If you’d like to look into implementing Social Media Autopost for your website along with any other feature in Our Hometown’s WordPress platform, feel free to fill out a contact form and set up a demo!

The post Case Study: News & Review taps into 20k Facebook audience by implementing Social Media Autopost first appeared on Our-Hometown.

The article, “Local News Outlets Upgrading Apps and Battling App-rehension,” discusses the ways news apps keep readers coming back and give papers a consistent reader-base. While dedicated apps still don’t make up the majority of where news is read, they still play a major role in catering to the more dedicated segment of a paper’s audience.

“At a time when reader revenue is the top goal for many news outlets, the name of the game is engagement,”

said Mark Jacob

Here are a few of our big takeaways:

• The publishers interviewed observed that app downloads tend to indicate a user will stick with the paper longer after subscribing.
• Apps that use push notifications boost reader engagement by reminding them to check in on the paper regularly, leading them to remain subscribed.
• Apps don’t account for a significant portion of pageviews, but they are extremely effective in retaining dedicated readers. 

All signs indicate that a robust app experience is a great tool for ensuring that a paper’s strongest base of subscribers doesn’t slip away, but they do require a bit of effort and marketing. Because of this, Our Hometown develops iOS and Android Apps as part of a full-service publishing platform, removing time consuming development and maintenance that can create a barrier to papers tapping into this audience.

The post News Brief: News Apps Provide High Engagement and Strenghthen Subscriber Bases first appeared on Our-Hometown.

“The podcast advertising market continues to rise steadily, quarter after quarter.”

– said Micaeli Rourke

The article, “As podcasting soars, advertising follows,” discusses the ways that audio program listenership has increased despite many people’s lack of a commute in recent years. An increase in ad spending has followed in tandem with an expanding podcast audience.

Here are a few of our big takeaways:

• As of 2021, 28% of the US population over the age of 12 listens to podcasts on a weekly basis.
• Between 2020 and 2021, podcast advertising increased by 40% and is expected to reach $1.6 billion by the end of the year.
• Studies show that advertisements that are read in a casual tone by podcast hosts are 48% more effective.

Podcasting is a great medium for any outlet looking to attract younger readers, as well as a great source of a growing amount of adshare. Because of this, Our Hometown developed Audio Article Podcasts to help newspapers to tap into the podcast market in a way that is accessible to newsrooms of all sizes and technical capabilities.

The post News Brief: New Advertising Opportunities Created by the Audio Podcast Boom first appeared on Our-Hometown.