Why the Barron County Free Press?

Why start a newspaper in 2026?

That's probably a fair question.

At a time when newspapers across the country are shrinking, consolidating, cutting publication days or disappearing altogether, why would anyone decide that now is the time to start one?

For me, the answer is pretty simple. Because I believe our community still needs one.

I've spent 31 years in the newspaper business. Over those years, I've done just about every job that comes with putting out a newspaper — writing stories, creating content, selling advertising, designing graphics, laying out pages and eventually running publications. And I've been doing it long enough to remember when "cut and paste" actually meant cut and paste.

Way back in the day, I would print out my stories, headlines, photos and advertisements on a large sheet, cut them out and physically paste them onto newspaper grid sheets. When the pages were finished, I'd run them down to the Dorrance brothers at the Rice Lake Chronotype to have the paper printed.

No dragging and dropping. No PDFs. No uploading a finished edition to the cloud. A ruler, a grid sheet, some paste and a deadline. Needless to say, a lot has changed since then.

The World Changed. Local News Still Matters.

The Internet changed newspapers. Smartphones changed them again. Facebook and social media changed them even more.

Today, we have more information available at our fingertips than at any other time in human history. Yet strangely enough, I believe it has become harder in many communities to find out what's happening right down the road.

You can pull out your phone and know what's happening in Washington, New York, Los Angeles or halfway around the world within seconds. But what happened at the county board meeting? What new business is opening down the street? Why were the police cars gathered in that neighborhood last night? Who bought that property? What homes are for sale? What happened in court this week? Who is doing something remarkable in one of our communities? What is happening with our schools, our businesses, our local governments and the people who call Barron County home?

That's the void I believe the Barron County Free Press can help fill.

I don't believe local newspapers are dying because people stopped caring about local news. People still want to know what's happening where they live. The challenge is finding a way to deliver that information in a world where the way people consume news has completely changed.

That's why the Barron County Free Press won't simply be a newspaper.

The printed edition is at the heart of what we're building, but we'll complement it with our website, digital newsletter, social media, video, audio and other platforms. Some people still love sitting down with a newspaper and a cup of coffee. Others want the story on their phone the moment something happens.

We intend to be there for both.

What You'll Find Here

Our goal is to make this a newspaper you actually look forward to picking up every week.

We'll cover Crime & Courts, not simply by repeating police reports, but by helping readers understand what is happening in our communities and courtrooms.

We'll bring you Barron County Homes & Land, showcasing local real estate, properties, open houses and the people working in our housing market.

We'll celebrate the people and businesses that make this county special through business spotlights, community features and stories about People You Should Know.

We'll look back at where we've been with Barron County Back Then.

We'll recognize the places our readers love through the Best of Barron County.

We'll cover local government, schools, business, economic development, community events and the issues affecting everyday life.

And we'll go deeper.

Our IN DEPTH reports will take subjects that deserve more than a few paragraphs and examine them from different sides. We want to ask questions, dig into public records, talk to the people involved and give our readers enough information to make up their own minds. Sometimes those stories may be uncomfortable. That's part of the job, too.

And There's One More Word in Our Name That Matters

Free.

That isn't there by accident. One thing has bothered me as I've watched the newspaper industry struggle with declining readership over the years. As circulation declined, one of the industry's answers was often to charge the remaining readers more.

To me, that can become a vicious cycle. Fewer readers. Higher prices. Fewer readers again. We're going the other direction.

The Barron County Free Press is free, and my intention is to keep it that way.

I don't want someone deciding whether the local news is worth spending a few dollars on this week. If you want to read this newspaper, I want you to be able to pick one up. If you're a senior citizen watching every dollar, take one. If you're a young family trying to keep up with what's happening in your community, take one. If you're sitting down for breakfast and want to see what's happening around Barron County, take one.

It's yours.

Because the more people who are informed about their community, the stronger that community can become.

So Who Pays for It?

Our advertisers do. And that's why I want to make one request of every person reading this first edition. Please support the businesses you see advertising in these pages. They're doing more than buying an advertisement. They're helping make this newspaper possible.

They're helping pay for the reporting, printing and distribution that allows us to put the Barron County Free Press into your hands without asking you for a dime.

In a very real sense, our advertisers are the sponsors of local journalism. So when you visit one of them, let them know.

Tell them:

"I saw you in the Barron County Free Press."

Those seven words matter. They tell a local business owner their advertising worked. They tell them people are reading this newspaper. And they tell them their investment in local journalism is being noticed.

If our readers support our advertisers, our advertisers can continue supporting this newspaper, and together, we can keep the Barron County Free Press free. That's the partnership this entire idea is built upon.

This Is Your Newspaper

I know we're not going to get everything perfect with Issue No. 1. We're going to learn. We're going to grow. We're going to listen. And I hope you'll help us.

Tell us about the person who deserves a story. Tell us about the business that's doing something interesting. Tell us when something is happening in your neighborhood. Tell us what we're missing. And, yes, tell us when you think we're wrong.

After 31 years in this business, I've watched journalism change more than I ever could have imagined when I was standing over those grid sheets with scissors and paste. But one thing hasn't changed. People still want to know what's happening in their community. That's why I created the Barron County Free Press.

Not to recreate the newspaper of yesterday. But to build a local newspaper for today. One that's local. One that's independent. One that belongs to this community.

And most importantly...

One that's free.