If you would have told me in mid-October that I would own a Mitchell County newspaper—with a physical location, a growing staff and a strong foundation built around a paper that was, frankly, way down in the weeds—I would have told you there’s no way.
And yet, here we are.
This week marks three months since we officially took over what was formerly the Mitchell County Press News and relaunched it as The Osage Oracle. In that short amount of time, I’ve learned something important: even when you think you know a community well, there is always more to learn and many more people to meet.
From the beginning, our mission was clear. Osage is the county seat of Mitchell County, and at the time, it was one of the only county seats in Iowa without a dedicated newspaper. I wanted to change that. Through relationships already built with the school district, local businesses and community leaders—many through Nelson Media Company—I knew there was a need and a market for a strong, locally focused publication.
But we didn’t want this to be a newspaper that simply ran photos and sports, though those absolutely have their place. Our goal was to build a well-rounded community paper—one that covered city and county government, school boards and public meetings, while also telling the stories happening every day in our schools beyond athletics, in our businesses and among the people who make this community what it is.
One of the most important early decisions we made was securing a physical newsroom. The opportunity to rent space in the former Mitchell County Press News building—now the Leeman Education Center—through a partnership with Cedar Valley Seminary was a historic and fortunate move. Having a downtown presence has allowed us to build relationships, not just cover meetings. It has brought the newspaper back into the community in a real, tangible way.
Our writers—and myself included—have had the opportunity to get to know Mayor Cooper, City Administrator Brock Waters, Superintendent Barb Schwamman and many others, along with an ever-growing number of business owners and residents. Those relationships matter. They build trust, and trust builds good journalism.
In just three months, The Osage Oracle has grown from a six-page paper to a consistent 12-page publication. We’ve hired three writers, expanded coverage and I’ve personally stepped in where needed—helping in advertising, writing stories and making sure nothing falls through the cracks. Our goal is to continue growing responsibly as subscriptions and advertising continue to increase.
That support from the community has been humbling. We’ve seen a steady influx of new subscriptions and heard from readers who are not only happy with the paper, but eager for more. Advertising has grown more gradually, but continues to build as we visit with local businesses about how their services and products can be seen by more people through both our printed newspaper and our daily-updated website.
In the last month, we’ve also expanded coverage beyond Osage into St. Ansgar and Riceville. Dedicated beat writers are now covering school boards and city councils in those communities, ensuring that important local stories are not overlooked. Every community deserves to have its news covered, and we take that responsibility seriously.
We consider ourselves a true weekly newspaper—printed every Thursday morning and delivered to vendors and subscribers by Thursday afternoon and Friday—but we are also a daily news source online. New content is added to our website every day. That commitment to consistent, timely reporting was part of the vision from the very beginning.
News.
Stories that aren’t always told.
Information that matters.
That is why I wanted to own this newspaper for so many years. It takes vision, direction and newsroom experience to make local journalism work—and to do it the right way.
We are incredibly blessed with a hardworking, passionate staff: Pat Wickham, our part-time office manager; Danielle, who puts together a beautiful paper each and every week; and our team of writers who bring this community to life in print. Ashlyn, Alycia and Shaely lead our local news coverage, Brett anchors our sports reporting, and I continue to fill in the gaps where needed. We’re also fortunate to have several others working behind the scenes to help keep everything running smoothly. Together, this team ensures The Osage Oracle offers not just photos, but substance—stories you can read, information you need and reporting you can trust.
So today, I simply want to say thank you.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for subscribing. Thank you for advertising. And thank you for welcoming us into this community.
From our end, please know this: we are working hard every single week to give you the very best local newspaper product we can. We look forward to continuing to tell the stories of Osage, Mitchell County and beyond for many years to come.