Featured App: My Keene Now, Local News for Keene, NH
Across the country, local newspapers have been shrinking or disappearing, leaving whole communities without anyone covering the school board, the town council or the fire down the street. In Keene, New Hampshire, a local radio group decided to do something about it. My Keene Now launched in 2024 to fill that gap with free, hyperlocal news, and its app, built with AppPresser, puts breaking news, weather alerts and live local radio in the pocket of everyone in the Monadnock Region. Its users have given it a perfect 5.0 star rating on iPhone.
In this featured app spotlight, we take a closer look at the newsroom behind My Keene Now, what the app does, who it serves, and why it is such a strong example of what happens when a WordPress site and a mobile app work together.
Who Is Behind My Keene Now
My Keene Now is part of Monadnock Media Group, the Keene based family of radio stations that includes WKBK, 98.7 Wink Country, 103.7 KNE FM, Sunny 97.7, 99.1 The River and more. Monadnock Media Group is part of Saga Communications, a broadcasting company with stations in markets across the United States.
The site launched on June 5, 2024, with a clear mission: to report timely and accurate local news that matters to Keene and the Monadnock region. As the newsroom puts it, “Our reporters live and work in Keene and are deeply invested in the stories that shape our neighborhoods, schools and businesses. Our mission is to keep local news accessible to everyone, because a connected community is a strong community.”
Leading the newsroom is editor in chief Nicole Colson, a Keene High School graduate with a journalism degree from Keene State College. She spent 13 years as a staff writer at the Keene Sentinel and another 11 years freelancing for Keene Publishing Company’s magazines before joining Monadnock Media Group. She works alongside the WKBK news team, including news director Abbie Trombly and longtime morning host Dan Mitchell, who has been part of WKBK since the 1980s.
The first year was a big one. In its own one year anniversary story, My Keene Now reported nearly half a million active users and nearly 1 million pageviews, with hundreds of stories published about the people, issues and events of the greater Keene area. The site was supported from day one by local founding sponsors, a reminder of how much the community wanted a strong local news source.
What the My Keene Now App Does
The My Keene Now app delivers the latest breaking news, community information and investigative journalism from mykeenenow.com, the primary source of local news in the greater Keene area. It is designed to be fast, clean and easy to use, so readers can check the news in seconds.
The app includes:
- Top Stories, highlighting the most important local headlines.
- Latest News, a running feed of every new story as it is published.
- Sections for local news, crime and safety, business, sports, education, lifestyle, community events, weather and photos.
- Breaking news alerts sent as push notifications the moment something happens.
- Weather alerts and forecasts specific to the greater Keene area.
- Listen, with live streams of WKBK and its sister stations right inside the app.
- Trending articles that show what the community is reading most.
The app is free on iPhone and iPad and is also available on Android. It launched in June 2024, and the most recent update in September 2026 added account deletion, usage analytics and improved trending article links.
App Screenshots
Here is a look at the app. Notice how the bottom navigation keeps the four most important destinations, Top Stories, Latest News, Sections and Listen, one tap away on every screen.
Test Drive the App
The best way to understand what makes My Keene Now special is to try it yourself. Download the free app, turn on notifications, and see how quickly local news reaches you.
Key Features That Stand Out
Breaking News, Right Away
Local news is most valuable when it arrives in time to matter. A road closure, a school delay or a public safety alert is only useful if people see it quickly. My Keene Now’s push notifications deliver breaking news straight to the lock screen, so readers find out first instead of hearing about it later.
Weather That Is Actually Local
New England weather can change quickly, and a statewide forecast does not always tell you what is happening in your town. The app delivers weather information and alerts specific to the greater Keene area, along with closings when storms roll through.
Local Radio in Your Pocket
My Keene Now is not just a website with an app. It is part of a radio family with deep roots in the region. The Listen tab streams WKBK, known locally as the number one station for news and talk, along with stations like 98.7 Wink Country. Readers can go from a headline to a live broadcast without leaving the app.
Organized for Real Readers
The Sections screen turns a busy newsroom into a simple menu. Whether someone wants high school sports scores, business openings, crime and safety updates or the community calendar, they can jump right to it with one tap.
Built to Grow
The newsroom has said its goal for the years ahead is to reach more towns and build new partnerships across the Monadnock Region. The app is ready for that growth. As coverage expands on the website, it appears in the app automatically.
A Perfect 5.0 Rating
Ratings are one of the most honest signals an app can earn. At the time of writing, My Keene Now holds a perfect 5.0 rating from its iPhone users. For a news app, that is a strong result. Readers can be demanding, and they expect speed, accuracy and an experience that stays out of the way.
It also says something about the relationship between a newsroom and its community. My Keene Now has made a promise of transparency, compassion and independence, and a perfect score suggests readers feel that promise every time they open the app.
Who the App Serves
My Keene Now serves a clearly defined community, and that focus is part of its strength. It is built for:
- Keene residents who want to know what is happening in their city as it happens.
- Monadnock Region neighbors in surrounding towns whose news often goes uncovered elsewhere.
- Parents and students following schools, sports and closings.
- Local business owners keeping up with business and real estate news.
- WKBK listeners who want the station and the newsroom together in one place.
- Former residents and Keene State alumni who want to stay connected to the place they love.
Readers can also send in news tips and submit community events, making the app part of a two way conversation between the newsroom and the people it covers.
What This App Shows About AppPresser
The My Keene Now website, mykeenenow.com, runs on WordPress, and that matters. The site already holds every story, section, event listing and guide the newsroom publishes. With AppPresser, that content does not need to be rebuilt somewhere else. The app draws from the same WordPress site the team already manages every day.
For a newsroom, that is a big deal. Reporters write and publish in the tools they already know, and the story is in the app the moment it goes live. Push notifications put breaking news on readers’ phones within seconds, without a separate mobile publishing workflow.
My Keene Now also shows how AppPresser can help broadcasters. By combining a local news site with live streams from a family of radio stations, the app turns a media group’s strengths into one simple experience for its audience. That is exactly the kind of connection local media needs right now.
Congratulations to Nicole Colson, the WKBK news team and everyone at Monadnock Media Group on building an app that has earned a perfect 5.0 rating.
Do You Want Your Own App?
If your organization already runs on WordPress, launching your app with AppPresser is simple. Your app pulls directly from the website you already manage, so every update you make to your site appears in your app automatically. Ready to get started on your app right now? Check out our pricing page.
Not on WordPress yet? AppPresser can still help. Our team can move your website onto WordPress and then set up your app, so everything works together from the start. And if you need something more tailored, from custom features to a completely custom app, our custom development services have you covered.
Prefer to talk it through? Book a quick call with our team and we’ll walk you through your options.
If you need help or have any questions, tell us about your organization and what you’d like your app to do, and we’ll get back to you with a clear answer on costs and next steps.
