NorthJersey.com portal will be linked across the Real Cities network and take advantage of the network's features such as Local Web Directory, Web Search, Email and News Feeds.

With the addition of NorthJersey.com, the Real Cities network now includes 32 regional destination hubs, serving 10 of the top 25 markets in the United States. NorthJersey.com serves a portion of the number one New York market, which includes northern New Jersey. The announcement came at the start of the annual Editor and Publisher Interactive Newspapers Conference being held in New Orleans, LA.

The expanded site of NorthJersey.com will feature the content and services of several of Macromedia's newspapers, including The Record, its flagship award-winning daily newspaper, the Herald News (serving Passaic County), and 20 weekly newspapers tailored to specific localities.

"NorthJersey.com will be the true start page for the northern New Jersey region, a one-stop shop where residents can go to learn more about their community groups, shop online and gain access to a rich array of content and services," said Glenn Ritt, President of Macromedia's Internet Ventures.

NorthJersey.com is expected to launch on the Real Cities network early this Spring.

Macromedia's Ritt, long-recognized as a national leader in the creation of Internet communities and services, said his company's decision to join Real Cities was twofold:

"We found the Real Cities platform attractive, with its extensive Web products, and we liked what being part of a national network could bring us, namely better distribution and national advertising opportunities," said Ritt.

Dan Finnigan, president of KnightRidder.com, welcomed the addition of NorthJersey.com into the network. "Real Cities is a coalition of leading regional Web sites that are getting together to give Web users across the country the power of great local information and services," Finnigan said. "We're delighted that the Bergen Record has chosen to join and strengthen the network."

Real Cities is a national network of 32 regional information hubs staffed and operated by some of the nation's leading media companies, including Knight Ridder.com, Central Newspapers, and Belo Corporation. Among its member Web sites are: BayArea.com, DFW.com, Indy.com, KansasCity.com, Kentucky.com, Miami.com, Ohio.com, PhoenixAZ.com and TwinCities.com.

About KnightRidder.com and Real Cities:

KnightRidder.com, a leader in interactive information, is headquartered in San Jose, California, the heart of Silicon Valley. KnightRidder.com operates and manages the emerging national network of regional hubs, RealCities.com. Real Cities offers a variety of online services covering news, classified ads, entertainment, shopping, search, community publishing, Internet access, and archives. Knight Ridder (www.kri.com) (NYSE:KRI), the parent company of KnightRidder.com, is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher.

About Macromedia Internet Ventures:

Bergen.com, the company's flagship and home of The Record Online, is nearly five years old. In the last two years, it has been joined by NJCommunity.com, which is a community-building infrastructure for more than 1,800 governments, schools, towns, businesses, houses of worship and associations throughout the region. Among Macromedia's other online properties are: northjerseycars; northjerseyhomes; northjerseyjobs; northjerseyclassifieds; njhn.com; montclairtimes.com; parent paper.com; njcops.com; and njlifetime.com.

Press contacts:

Cynthia Mallen Funnell Knight Ridder.com 408-938-6076 cfunnell@realcities.com

Ed Efchak The Record 201-646-4379 efchak@bergen.com