{"id":33039,"date":"2016-04-14T18:42:18","date_gmt":"2016-04-15T00:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=33039"},"modified":"2026-04-08T16:15:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T21:15:48","slug":"the-local-voice-celebrates-ten-years-of-crunching-deadlines-and-spreading-ink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/the-local-voice-celebrates-ten-years-of-crunching-deadlines-and-spreading-ink\/","title":{"rendered":"The Local Voice Celebrates Ten years of Crunching Deadlines and Spreading Ink"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Local Voice<\/em> was born on April 18, 2006. For the past decade, Publisher<\/strong> Newt Rayburn<\/strong> and his staff has put a new issue on the racks every two weeks (give or take).<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a fatal car accident occurred during his commute to work at the New Albany Gazette<\/em> in October of 2005, Rayburn decided to re-evaluate his career path. He had been working in the publishing industry since 1988, including stints as Art Director for Living Blues<\/em> and The Oxford American<\/em> magazines. He won a National Magazine Award for his \u201cSouthern Music Issue\u201d of The Oxford American<\/em> in 1999, which has since become an annual feature of that publication.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cIt was a life altering event. As the weeks and months went on, I knew I was not where I wanted to be in life and I needed a change. I had $300 in my bank account and used it to start The Local Voice<\/em>. I thought it might last one, maybe two issues,\u201d said Rayburn.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"TLV-01-coverWEB\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But the little paper gained momentum and the support of local businesses that were happy to have a fresh perspective. Newt\u2019s years working in restaurants and his experience as a musician gave him insight into promoting entertainment, and a deep understanding of his advertising clients\u2019 needs.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working with local writers and artists, the paper grew and extended its reach. Nature Humphries<\/strong> joined the team in 2007 as a proofreader, and has since become Editor-in-Chief, taking on the responsibilities of daily operations of the newspaper.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh man, it was such a fluke,\u201d said Humphries. \u201cI was in grad school and he was basically doing the paper by himself. There would an entire week where I wouldn\u2019t see or hear from him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a fan of both The Local Voice<\/em> and of seeing her boyfriend on a semi-regular basis, Humphries began helping out. As her work with the paper continued, she began reevaluating her own life plan.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was going to grad school for Teaching English as a Second Language. My plan was to go teach in a French-speaking country,\u201d said Humphries. \u201cThen I got more and more involved with the paper and Newt and I got more involved with each other. I realized the program I was in wasn\u2019t right for me, so I dropped out and haven\u2019t been back since.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although having a dedicated editor helped smooth out the process, the early days were still not without their bumps. One mistake they can both now laugh at is the \u201cnotorious America-with-a-K story.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had a friend who had served over in Iraq several times,\u201d said Humphries. \u201cWe decided to do a human interest story. His name is Erik Puder, with a \u2018k\u2019.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After finishing the story, she realized her mistake and set about fixing it.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know his name was spelled a \u2018K\u2019 when I was writing it,\u201d said Humphries. \u201cAt one point I said to Newt, \u2018I\u2019m going to have to go back and change every one of these.\u2019 And he told me about this great feature called Find and Replace.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, Rayburn found all instances of \u201cE-R-I-C\u201d and replaced them with \u201cE-R-I-K.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith it being about a dude in the army, the word \u2018America\u2019 shows up several times in there,\u201d said Humphries. \u201cWe had changed every instance of \u2018America\u2019 to \u2018Amerika.\u2019 It was so embarrassing. We were getting calls asking if we were commies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a really good interview that was nearly ruined by a mistake that should have been caught,\u201d added Rayburn.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the years, The Local Voice<\/em> has given many local folks a venue for their creative work. Writers like Sarah Reddick<\/strong>, Tom Speed<\/strong>, Jimmy Pitts, Louis Bourgeois<\/strong>, and Charles Hale<\/strong>, to name just a few, contributed essays, music reviews, poetry, and short stories. Cartoonist Michael Ikeda-Chandler<\/strong>\u2019s editorial cartoons gave the paper fresh humor for years. Countless other artists, photographers, musicians, and townies have seen their work reach an ever-growing readership.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Local Voice<\/em> would like to thank the people of Oxford, and especially those businesses who believed in Rayburn\u2019s vision and have supported the paper over the years. The publisher recognizes that the paper would be nothing without the local businesses who advertise, and especially Star Package<\/strong>, The Library<\/strong>, Ajax<\/strong>, Proud Larrys\u2019<\/strong>, Angel Taxi<\/strong>, Volta<\/strong>, Express Computer Services<\/strong>, and Local Color<\/strong>, who have been supporting The Local Voice<\/em> since 2006.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Saturday, The Local Voice <\/em>will commemorate this milestone with an event at Proud Larrys\u2019<\/strong>, which will be free and open to the general public. Starting at 8:30 pm, friends and fans of The Local Voice<\/em> will gather to enjoy pizza and cupcakes. Following a set by DJ ded_lyne<\/strong>, The Local Voice<\/em> will debut a video project that has been in the works for the past month. The party will conclude with live music by Oxford\u2019s Favorite Band in 2015, The Whiskey Barrels<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"TLV-10th-anniversary-party-poster\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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