MARIPOSA COUNTY, Calif. (KMPH) -
The night sky lit up with flames last May in Mariposa, in one of the biggest fires this community has seen.
Mariposa Gazette editor Jill Ballinger watched the buildings burn right in front of her eyes.
"That was something that was happening in real time. I was in contact with your newsroom while I was here until the fire was out," Ballinger said.
It was one of the first times KMPH and the Mariposa Gazette took advantage of their new partnership. The whole idea behind it is to better serve our viewers and their readers.
"We can provide information to your community and your viewers that they can't get anywhere else, because it isn't available because of the relationships we have here," Ballinger said.
"Of course when you burn down a whole block it's going to make the news. But there's a lot of other activities going on here, good stuff, not just bad stuff," Stan Madewell said.
Madewell owns the Sportsmen's Den in Oakhurst and is opening another in Mariposa.
He thinks the partnership is a great idea.
"I think it's going to be beneficial to this area, and as well, I think, to you," Madewell said.
With the new partnership, Mariposa Gazette reporters will share stories, pictures and videos from their area with KMPH and we, in turn, will air them in our newscasts.
"It's important that people outside Mariposa County understand some of the issues, especially with the park that may affect them. There are road closures, there are fires, there are things that would impede your viewers from coming up the hill. There are also things that would attract your viewers to come here and that's what we want people to know," Ballinger said.
"It's a great way for us to get exposure regionally, not just here in Mariposa, but a little wider exposure for the Mariposa Gazette. We do have news here that people are interested in all over the place," Erik Skindrud, Mariposa Gazette reporter, said.
The Mariposa Gazette covers all of the unincorporated communities in that county, which is made up of about 18,000 people.
