Carrying on a Tradition, Facing Modern Challenges Together
Scott Hennen
Special to The Farmer
I’m proud to be co-owner of the McKenzie County Farmer, along with my business partner Steve Hallstrom. I love this community and have from the first time I set foot here 20 years ago. My wife and I are honored to help carry on the tradition of those who went before us in founding the county’s first newspaper - the oldest continuous business in McKenzie County. We both enjoy meeting with business leaders, big and small, and we have a passion for serving small towns. That passion is rooted in the opportunity to be a strong, consistent voice for Watford City and the surrounding communities.
Recently, I had the privilege of joining our General Manager, Patrice Bumstead, at a meeting of the Watford City Rotary Club. We were given the chance to update attendees about the state of the newspaper business, the challenges we face, and how we’re working to buck the national trend of closures. What made this meeting especially meaningful was the perspective shared by longtime publisher - and now fellow Rotarian - Neal Shipman, who along with his wife Lisa, faithfully served this community through the Farmer for decades before passing the torch to us.
Since we purchased the McKenzie County Farmer, we’ve invested heavily in transforming a local newspaper into a modern news organization. Today, we offer our content not only in print, but also on a 24/7 website with stories posted as they happen, and through our new Bakken Buzz app. The app features all our stories, real-time weather updates from our meteorologist Dean Wysocki, and even a player streaming our local radio station with news, opinions, and sports coverage. We’re grateful to Lund Oil for providing the support to launch this exciting addition to local coverage.
As Patrice explained at the Rotary meeting, “In addition to advertising in our newspaper and radio station, we offer digital marketing and podcasts, so we have a lot of different avenues to reach a lot of different people.”
For the full story, visit www.watfordcitynd.com and subscribe to the McKenzie County Farmer today!