We want our community to have local news that is just that -- local.

Our journey started with a conversation in March of 2022. During that conversation, Board President Nicole DeCriscio was asked what it would take to have a local news outlet. What would the bare minimum cost be to have an online publication with a sheet of paper guiding folks to our website?

That conversation planted the seeds for what has become The Owen News. The vision to restore local news to our community was created, and the right folks were connected.

By July, the board for The Owen News Project, Inc., the underlying non-profit behind The Owen News had its initial meeting.

In the fall of 2022, we established as a 501(c)3 non-profit, and we received a $10,000 Large Impact Grant from the Owen County Community Foundation to lay the foundation of what we hope will be a successful venture. We could've started right away, but instead, we focused on starting the right way.

The board has spent the last year researching other models and making decisions to get us to where we are today, which is ready to launch and start filling in the gaps in local coverage within our community. One of those key decisions was to participate in the Owen County Chamber of Commerce's Business Buildout program to help us achieve our goal of launching this summer.

Our organization is structured with two boards. The first, and perhaps most important board, is the board of directors for the non-profit. This board is comprised of local individuals who love Owen County and want to see this venture succeed. We also have a separate and independent Journalism Advisory Board that is made up of working, retired and former journalists from across the country to help guide the organization in the journalism aspects. This Journalism Advisory Board will also investigate any content-based complaints.

At the end of the day, we want to provide unbiased reporting and earn your trust as a local news outlet. We look forward to showing you what we're capable of and finding new ways to partner with our community.

You can learn more about how to support our efforts here.