Free news keeps information flowing in two rural university towns

By Paula Pyzik Scott
567-400-4266 (landline) / [email protected]

Keeping free news flowing on the Ada Icon and Bluffton Icon is a big job. It’s one I share with two part-time content managers and a growing number of writers and photographers. But local news truly wouldn’t exist without the Icon’s sponsors, most of which predate my role as editor.

In 2021, I purchased the Icons to keep local news alive. In the coming year, my evolving mission will be to ensure Icon advertising and sponsorships are appreciated for the role they play in making local news possible in two small, rural Ohio college towns.

At a recent assignment at War Memorial Park, a woman came up to me and said, “you still have news in Ada?!”

We can thank Icon founder Fred Steiner for creating a free news format that makes local news and information accessible to all with no login, no credit card and no pay-per-click advertising.

I consider the Icons’ banner ads–which are a 6- or 12-month commitment–to be a sponsorship like buying an ad in a school sports program. They are advertising; but more importantly, they are a commitment to providing a public resource that is available when you need it–not when individuals can afford it or decide to subscribe to it.

If you’d like to feature your business or organization as an Icon sponsor, please reach out to me. There are some 250 area businesses on my sponsor prospects list, and you can jump to the head of the line!

Thanks for reading and supporting the Icons.