Minnesota Public Radio Launches Minnesota Today

Jun 10, 2010

(St. Paul, Minn.)--June 10, 2010--Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) today announced the debut of Minnesota Today, a new online service that aims to amplify Minnesota arts, culture and statewide current events. Minnesota Today, which can be found on MPRNewsQ.org, features an arts and cultural events calendar along with news, blogs and photography from across the state. The project is funded in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment's Arts and Cultural Heritage fund.

"Minnesota Today is another step in pursuit of our mission to enhance lives by expanding perspectives and strengthening communities," said Tim Roesler, MPR general manager and senior vice president. "With our existing presence throughout Minnesota and our commitment to serving a statewide audience, we're uniquely positioned to offer this service."

Minnesota Today will collect and display information from all corners of the state, offering information to Minnesotans about what's important throughout the region and connecting them to places that matter in their lives.

Available on the MPR website at mntoday.mprnewsq.org, the key components of Minnesota Today include:

* A statewide arts and cultural events calendar-- featuring extensive listings of concerts, plays, art exhibits, festivals and other activities taking place in local communities. Visitors can browse events by location, date or category. MPR is encouraging event organizers to submit their listings, which is free and easy to do via the Minnesota Today events page. MPR also will be working with arts groups and event organizers throughout the state to make continuous improvements to the calendar.

* Locally produced news stories from around the state -- including summaries of top news from hundreds of Minnesota information sources monitored by MPR News editors. Minnesota Today links to the original source for each article, driving web traffic back to local media sites.

* Insight Now -- a moderated forum for Minnesotans to share their knowledge about issues affecting their lives and communities.

* Minnesota Sounds and Audio Archives-- highlighting our shared history and cultural heritage. Minnesota Sounds captures iconic sounds from communities across the state, while Audio Archives features historical nuggets from the MPR audio vault.

* Minnesota Scenes -- a showcase of Minnesota photography designed to highlight the work and promote the discovery of Minnesota shutterbugs.

"Minnesota Today will bring what's important to individual communities statewide into a single point of focus," says Chris Worthington, MPR's managing director for news. "No one newsroom can singularly provide that reach. With experienced editors tracking noteworthy events around the state, through the local lenses of individual communities, Minnesota Today will offer all Minnesotans a connected perspective on what's important to their neighbors around the state."