As 2008 began, the long-term outlook for the Press was promising. Subscription renewals were coming in (many for two years), advertising revenue was growing, and reporters were covering the news as boards prepared for Town Meeting. The financial picture was positive, even though we were forecasting another year or two of deficits.

We took a planned break in July and early August, with no paper published for four weeks. We moved into our new space before we left. When we returned, we began a period of change.

During the winter and early spring of 2007, we focused on strengthening the paper's content.We had welcome help from two former editors of the old Harvard Post, Ann Levison and Connie Larrabee.

In 1973, a locally owned independent weekly newspaper, the Harvard Post, was started by Kathleen Cushman and Ed Miller (authors of How to Produce a Small Newspaper, Harvard Common Press, 1978) with a goal of “bringing the community together while reflecting the individualism that makes Harvard so special.”

I'm Worth Robbins, part owner of The Harvard Press LLC, which publishes The Harvard Press, the locally owned independent newspaper of the town of Harvard, MA. My partners and I intend to blog about the economics of delivering local news to Harvard, population about 6,000, 35 miles west of Boston.