| WHO |  55423.info is the work of Mark Plenke, a Communication Department instructor at Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minn. He has taught college journalism and mass communication courses for more than 15 years. Before he came to Normandale in 2002, Mark had a long career as a reporter and editor for several Midwestern daily newspapers and KMSP-TV in the Twin Cities. He holds a master's degree in journalism and mass communication from the University of Minnesota. |
| WHAT | An independent news, information and community-building website serving the community of Richfield, Minn., 55423.info is a community newspaper without the paper. News about local government, schools, the justice system, local business and other areas of interest are the focus of the site. Multimedia projects including audio and video, computer mapping and photojournalism are also part of the mix, as are Twitter feeds and Facebook posts. 55423.info is operated as a Minnesota limited liability corporation: 55423.info LLC |
| WHERE |
The name of the site comes from the postal code for Richfield, Minn., all of which is contained in ZIP Code 55423. Richfield, located immediately south of Minneapolis, is the oldest suburb in Minnesota. |
| WHEN | The site went live in July 2010. Plans are to continue the site indefinitely as a regular academic class for students at Normandale Community College beginning Spring Semester 2013. |
| HOW | The website was the focus of Mark's year-long sabbatical project in 2010-2011. |
| WHY | Normandale is transforming its journalism curriculum to train students for communication careers in the digital world. The website will provide a learning-by-doing, real-world laboratory for students at the same time it continues Normandale's focus on service to the community. Richfield was chosen because it's in Normandale's service area, it has a changing population with changing communication needs, and it's underserved by traditional media. |
Contact 55423.info
Richfield residents' survey
What are Richfield residents most interested in knowing about? See the results of our survey conducted in June, July and August 2010.
