The Pioneer Press, KSTP-TV, City Pages, Sun Newspapers, KTCA-TV and other prominent Twin Cities organizations today announced the official launch of TwinCities.com (www.twincities.com).

Other partners will be added in coming weeks, according to Beth Laing, director of TwinCities.com. Several of the media partners will join the Pioneer Press in supplying news and feature content to TwinCities.com. The Pioneer Press will continue to operate its popular news Web site, PioneerPlanet.

TwinCities.com is part of a network of regional portals being rolled out nationwide by Knight Ridder New Media , Knight Ridder newspapers and other media partners. Each portal within the network, known as Real Cities, features comprehensive Web directories, powerful searching, community information, e-commerce marketplaces, community publishing, free e-mail and 24-hour national and local news.

TwinCities.com will provide the best window on the Web for Internet users in the Twin Cities, said Brett Benson, senior editor of TwinCities.com.

"Our research has clearly shown Internet users want local news and information on the Web, and they want it from local names they know and trust," Benson said. "TwinCities.com gives us the ability to provide the best local news coverage available anywhere to Web users in the region."

Laing said the strategy of opening participation in the site to media partners is designed to increase Web traffic for participants and enhance visibility for TwinCities.com. "The Web marketplace is just too crowded to do it all on your own," Laing said. "This is a win proposition for everyone." TwinCities.com provides links to its partners as well as some of their content.

"We at Sun Newspapers are thrilled about our partnership with TwinCities.com," said Sun Newspapers president and publisher Frank G. Chilinski. "TwinCities.com will provide Minnesotans with a portal where they can find all the news they want; world, national, news of the Twin Cities, and news from their neighborhood. The partnerships developed by TwinCities.com have made the Internet much simpler for residents of the Twin Cities and surrounding suburbs.

"We are also pleased that the timing of TwinCities.com is such that it is being unveiled at the same time we have completely redesigned our Web site, www.mnsun.com," Chilinski said.

Directory and Search

TwinCities.com offers the credibility of a locally catalogued Web directory combined with the power of a national database to help users find the information they want ã whether local or national ã simply and quickly. The TwinCities.com directory is powered by Inktomi's latest Directory Engine technology. TwinCities.com editors have used the technology to evaluate and categorize more than 5,500 local Web sites and add them to Inktomi's vast and growing national database of Web sites. The result is a unique and powerful combination that highlights local sites within a global framework.

Community Publishing

TwinCities.com understands the great potential of the Internet to help build communities online. In partnership with KOZ.com, TwinCities.com offers powerful "community publishing" tools and programs that make it easy for organizations, institutions, associations and neighborhood clubs to bring their message to the Internet. Using our simple tools, each group can build its own Web site, complete with a calendar, photo album, newsletter, chat, message boards and other features. Sites built using community publishing tools will be hosted within TwinCities.com ã free of charge for most groups.

Marketplace/E-Commerce

Through newspapers and classifieds, the Pioneer Press has brought buyers and sellers together for 150 years. As a pioneer in online classifieds, TwinCities.com includes an all-new Marketplace with online shopping and classified products devoted to automotive, employment and real estate categories. Featuring online yellow pages, 26 product categories and local and national merchants, Marketplace makes online shopping convenient.

Through the use of Kinzan.com's SiteMan Storefront software, TwinCities.com also provides local retailers with the ability to create their own full-service e-commerce Web sites. TwinCities.com also features online couponing functionality provided by Prio, Inc.

E-mail

Free e-mail is available to TwinCities.com users via an exclusive partnership with global e-mail provider CommTouch Software.

News

TwinCities.com will feature local news as reported by the Pioneer Press, one of the largest newsgathering organizations in the Midwest, as well as several of its media partners, including Sun Newspapers and City Pages.

National and international coverage will incorporate Knight Ridder's rich news and information reports and those of its wire partners, as well as the multimedia content and interactivity that users expect from a full-service Web news site.

Passport (global registration)

TwinCities.com's Passport system allows users to register once and then move through the Real Cities products that require registration, such as community publishing, news archives, free e-mail and e-mail dispatch services.

About the TwinCities.com partner network

The Pioneer Press, the oldest newspaper in Minnesota, this year marks its 150th year of serving the Twin Cities, greater Minnesota and Western Wisconsin. It is a Knight Ridder newspaper.

Knight Ridder New Media, a leader in interactive information, is located in San Jose, Calif. Knight Ridder New Media produces Real Cities, (www.realcities.com) a national network of regional information and marketplace hubs on the World Wide Web. Real Cities consists of regional portals, city-resource sites and a variety of online services in classifieds, entertainment, shopping, news, search and archives.

Knight Ridder (NYSE: KRI) is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher (www.kri.com), with products in print and online. The company publishes 31 daily newspapers in 28 U.S. markets, with a readership of 9.2 million daily and 13.1 million Sunday. Knight Ridder also has investments in a variety of Internet and technology companies and two newsprint mills. SOURCE Knight Ridder New Media

KSTP-TV, home of Channel 5 Eyewitness News, is owned and operated by the pioneering broadcasting company Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. In 1948, KSTP-TV was the first television station to sign on in the Upper Midwest ã and today remains the only locally owned, locally operated television news station in the Twin Cities. Hubbard Broadcasting also owns and operates four other television stations in Minnesota, including KSAX-TV, Alexandria; KRWF-TV, Redwood Falls; WDIO-TV, Duluth; and WIRT-TV, Hibbing. Hubbard Broadcasting recently signed a purchase agreement to buy KVBM-TV, Channel 45, located in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area. Among Hubbard's television properties outside of Minnesota are WHEC-TV, Rochester, New York, and WNYT-TV, Albany, N.Y., plus three stations in New Mexico: KOB-TV, Albuquerque; KOBF-TV, Farmington; and KOBR-TV, Roswell.

City Pages is the largest, most-read news and arts weekly in the Twin Cities. In a highly literate market, one that's called "media crazy," City Pages has gained a reputation for standing apart from the pack through its investigative reporting, sense of humor, pointed arts coverage, tough watch-dogging of local politicians and institutions, crisp graphics, and the strong voice of its writers. The newspaper has earned an engaged, committed readership and has garnered many awards, both local and national.

Sun Newspapers publishes 30 local newspapers, reaching over 300,000 homes in the suburbs of Minneapolis and St Paul. Under the names the Sun-Current, Sun-Post and Sun-Sailor, Sun Newspapers is one of the nation's largest weekly publishing groups. In Minnesota, Sun's parent company also owns the daily Stillwater (MN) Gazette, and recently acquired the Osseo-Maple Grove Press, as well as 5 other weeklies serving the suburbs of NW Minneapolis.

KTCA: Twin Cities Public Television is Minnesota's portal to the best in public broadcasting. For more than 40 years, KTCA Channel 2 and KTCI Channel 17 have provided Minnesotans with the highest quality entertainment and educational fare for the whole family. KTCA gives you a Minnesota perspective, producing award-winning local news programs NewsNight Minnesota and Almanac as well as outstanding cultural and documentary specials.

CONTACT: Brett Benson of TwinCities.com, 651-228-5438, bbenson@twincities.com