From the board president: We hope to be the newspaper Oxford deserves

Welcome to the start of the Oxford Free Press. Oxford had a weekly newspaper for nearly a century, but like thousands of other small-town newspapers around the country, it has ceased publication. The Oxford Free Press intends to fill the gap covering the civic life of our community. The Free Press has been incorporated as a nonprofit, and it is being distributed weekly in both print and digital formats.

Two factors have been especially important in our ability to actually start publishing. First is the strong support of the community. We know that folks in Oxford are psyched to see this paper. We are asking the community to support the newspaper by making a tax-deductible contribution to its operation.

The second critical factor in our successful start-up has been hiring Sean Scott as editor of the Free Press. Sean, who graduated from Miami last month, was an outstanding and award-winning Editor-in-Chief of The Miami Student. I can’t tell you how many officials in local government, Miami University and community organizations have shared with me their high regard for Sean’s character and ability.

Oxford is a great place to live, work, and play. It deserves its own weekly newspaper. We hope that the Oxford Free Press will be the newspaper that Oxford deserves.

James Rubenstein is president of the Board of Directors for the Oxford Free Press and professor emeritus of geography at Miami University.