Burnett County Sentinel

What Burnett County Sentinel does

Burnett County Sentinel is a privately held local newspaper and online news publication serving Burnett County, Wisconsin, headquartered at 114 W. Madison Ave., Grantsburg. It produces hyper-local coverage of county news, crime and public safety, high school sports, opinion, obituaries, community events, and classifieds, and operates as the county's paper of record for legal public notices. The publication runs on the BLOX Content Management System from BLOX Digital and distributes content through its website, a digital e-edition, a Facebook page, and email newsletters, with a recurring seasonal Vacationer edition aimed at seasonal residents and visitors. It also runs the annual 'Best of Burnett County' community voting contest and an integrated local job board (applylocal.jobs).

The business operates with a small team of approximately 1–10 staff across editorial, production, graphic design, sales, classifieds, and office/subscription management functions, and is led by Publisher Tom Stangl and Editor Greg Marsten. It is part of a multi-title regional newspaper group that includes The Amery Free Press, Back Roads, and The Laker, with shared leadership and back-office resources across titles. Revenue is generated through four streams: recurring digital and print subscriptions, display and classified advertising from local SMBs, employment and for-sale classifieds, and statutory public notice fees from county government and private parties. The GTM motion is sales-led and community-oriented, relying on a 'Support Local Journalism' subscription/contribution pitch distributed primarily through the website, social channels, and email.

Name

Burnett County Sentinel

Legal name

Burnett County Sentinel

Website

https://burnettcountysentinel.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Burnett County Sentinel is a privately held local newspaper and online news site serving Burnett County, Wisconsin, providing hyper-local news, sports, obituaries, classifieds, and statutory public notices to county residents and local businesses.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110), Newspaper Publishers (51311)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYMPAJADAB

Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital)

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Publishing (Books, News, Magazines)/News Publishing (Newspapers, Digital Newsrooms, Wire Services)

Keywords

• Local newspaper publishing
• Community news coverage
• Digital news subscription
• Classified advertising
• Public notice publication

Headquarters

HQ city

Grantsburg

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Digital Subscriptions: Online subscription revenue from website content access and e-edition subscriptions for Burnett County residents and community members seeking local news coverage.
2. Advertising: Display advertising and classified advertising revenue from local businesses and organizations targeting Burnett County residents.
3. Classifieds: Revenue from classified advertisements including job board postings, garage sales, for sale ads, and public notices.
4. Public Notices: Legal public notice publications serving Burnett County government entities and private parties.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Burnett County Sentinel publishes a local community newspaper and accompanying website delivering hyper-local news, sports, crime, opinion, obituaries, community event coverage, classifieds, and legal public notices for residents of Burnett County, Wisconsin. Revenue is generated through digital and print subscriptions, display/classified advertising, and paid public notice placements.

Product overview

Burnett County Sentinel is a local news publication serving Burnett County, Wisconsin, operated as part of a regional newspaper group (The Amery Free Press family). The primary product is the online news website offering comprehensive local coverage across multiple content verticals including News, Sports, Opinion, Crime, Obituaries, Classifieds, Public Notices, and Community Events. The site is powered by BLOX Content Management System from BLOX Digital and is available via subscription with free and premium access tiers. Supporting products include the E-Edition digital newspaper archive, a community calendar for local events, weather services, and the annual 'Best of Burnett County' voting contest. The publication also maintains related titles including Back Roads (The Amery Free Press), The Laker, and the Vacationer seasonal edition.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Burnett County Sentinel Online News Website Local online news portal for Burnett County, Wisconsin residents covering local news, crime, sports, opinion, obituaries, and community information, offered via free and subscription access tiers.
• E-Edition Digital Newspaper Digital replica of the printed newspaper accessible via subscription, including the current edition and an archive of past editions.
• Classifieds Section Paid classified advertising service for local individuals and businesses, covering job board listings (via applylocal.jobs), garage sales, for-sale items, and help-wanted ads.
• Public Notices Paid legal public notice publication service for county government entities, courts, and private parties in Burnett County, including estate notices, court summons, and county government announcements.
• Best of Burnett County Annual reader-voted community contest that recognizes local Burnett County businesses and services, with results published each year (2020-2025).
• Vacationer E-Edition Seasonal, vacation-focused edition of the Burnett County Sentinel targeting seasonal residents and visitors to the area.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Dunn County News: Local Wisconsin newspaper covering Dunn County with a comparable mix of local news, sports, classifieds, and public notices. Similar community-newspaper economics to Burnett County Sentinel.
• Lakeland Times: Independently owned rural Wisconsin newspaper serving the Lakeland region. Operates with a similar small-team structure covering local news, outdoors, classifieds, and public notices — directly analogous to Burnett County Sentinel's rural Wisconsin model.
• Door County Pulse: Wisconsin community newspaper and digital publication serving Door County. Comparable hyper-local focus, multi-product approach (events calendar, classifieds, e-edition), and subscription-supported business model.
• Pierce County Herald: Independent community newspaper serving Pierce County, Wisconsin. Comparable in geographic scope (single Wisconsin county), revenue mix (subscriptions, display, classifieds, public notices), and small-team operating model.
• Hodag Country News: Free community newspaper covering the Rhinelander area in northern Wisconsin. Comparable in rural Wisconsin focus, advertising-driven revenue model, and small operating team.
• The Laker: Another community title explicitly linked from Burnett County Sentinel's navigation, part of the Amery Free Press family. Same Wisconsin hyper-local newspaper model with the same operating playbook.
• River Falls Journal: Local Pierce County / western Wisconsin newspaper covering a small town. Similar mix of community news, public notices, and classifieds, with subscription and advertising revenue streams comparable to Burnett County Sentinel.
• The Amery Free Press: Sister publication under the same publisher (Tom Stangl) operating in nearby Polk County, Wisconsin. Identical business model, shared staff (Darcy Jo Paulson, Sue VanBuskirk, Nicole Gagner, Rebecca LaMar appear on both mastheads), and shared production infrastructure — the closest comparable operating unit.
• Back Roads: Community newspaper linked from Burnett County Sentinel's masthead, produced by the same Amery Free Press network. Directly comparable in scale, content mix, and distribution.

Broad incumbents

• Leader-Telegram: Larger regional daily serving Eau Claire and surrounding western Wisconsin counties. Operates in the same regional media market as Burnett County Sentinel with overlapping advertiser base and broader news coverage, representing the kind of larger incumbent a community paper competes against for ad spend.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/burnett-county-sentinel

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Burnett County Sentinel