User:Bloomfieldfreepress

For nearly three-quarters of a century, the Bloomfield area had its own newspaper – owned by a local family and operated in the Greene County seat.

From its original owner, James Law to former Lt. Gov. John Watkins and his family, including Nancy and the late Elmo Dowden, the tradition of a hometown newspaper serving its community continued when William C. Miles purchased the paper in 1979.

That tradition was renewed April 5, 2006, as Volume One, Issue One, of the Bloomfield Free Press hit the streets.

According to Publisher R. Michael Johnson, the new newspaper will be published every Wednesday and will feature predominantly local news.

“It’s long been my belief that state, national and international news is available via hundreds of sources – television, radio, major metro newspapers, to name a few,” Johnson said. “But that leaves a giant chasm for the small communities who want and need hometown news.”

He noted that a hometown newspaper is often a source of a community’s identity and pride. “It is our intent to bring back the days when local news ruled the pages of the local newspaper,” he said. “Far too many of us in the media today have forgotten the legacy people like John Watkins, Elmo Dowden and Bill Miles left for us. That legacy is one of community pride and service.”

The Bloomfield Free Press was founded to serve the citizens of Bloomfield and the eastern side of Greene County with local news, features, obituaries, opinions and sports, Johnson said.

“Basically, our coverage and distribution area is east of the White River,” he said. “This includes Switz City, Worthington, Lyons, Solsberry and everywhere in between.” As a tip of the hat to Bloomfield’s rich local newspaper history, the nameplate for the Bloomfield Free Press is in Old English type – just as the area’s original newspapers were. The likeness of the Liberty torch is a tribute to the freedoms we, as Americans, enjoy – and which allow for a free press.

The new newspaper will – for the immediate future – be a complimentary publication, although home delivery subscriptions are encouraged, Johnson said. The paper also offers special discounted subscriptions for men and women serving in the military at home and abroad.

As part of the announcement of the new newspaper, Bloomfield Publishing, Inc., also announced the appointment of Mark A. Downey as sports editor for the Bloomfield Free Press. “In Mark, we have the dean of local sports,” said Johnson. “With two decades of covering local sports in Greene County, Mark is the one man in the area who eats, breathes and sleeps local sports. If ever there was a true expert in Greene County sports, it’s Mark Downey.” Whether one is a sports enthusiast, a young parent or a local resident who wants to keep abreast of local happenings, Johnson said the purpose of the Bloomfield Free Press is to enlighten, entertain and inform.

Along with a full spate of local news and the like, Johnson also said the paper features such classic comics as Henry, Flash Gordon and Popeye, as well as the new numbers game Sudoku, a weekly crossword puzzle and other games and horoscope.

But the concentration will be on this area and its citizens. “Basically, if it’s important to Eastern Greene County, It’s important to us,” Johnson said.

That philosophy is evident in the paper’s mission statement, which reads, “To provide the citizens of Bloomfield and Eastern Greene County with the news that matters most in an unbiased manner without respect to politics, religion or outside influences.”