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Jobs created as new free weekly launched

Two new reporting jobs have been created after a new free weekly newspaper was launched in Oxfordshire by independent publisher TriMedia.

The Abingdon-based company launched the first edition of the Oxfordshire Guardian series on Thursday, with one edition covering the southern part of the county and another for Witney, Carterton and West Oxfordshire.

New websites have also been launched to go hand-in-hand with the new titles which will be overseen by Hartley Milner as group editor with Ric Sumner taking on the role of news editor.

And two new staff  members, Lucy Copp and Zoe Efstathiou, have been taken on as reporters to cover the newspaper’s patch.

TriMedia was set up five years ago and already publishes the Basingstoke Observer and the recently acquired Property Weekly, one of the county’s oldest free weekly newspapers.

Ric, who is also news editor for the Basingstoke Observer and Oxford Journal, said: “The response has been really good, I’m really pleased, it’s better than I could have hoped for. We have had feedback from readers, councillors and businesses.”

The Oxfordshire Guardian will be delivered to 17,000 homes and businesses in South Oxfordshire and the vale of White Horse, with another 6,000 distributed in Witney, Caterton, and 3,500 to estate agents across the region.

TriMedia owner Howard Taylor said: “We are thrilled to be launching the Oxfordshire Guardian series in what is an exciting time for the company.

“Our research indicates there is definitely a niche in the market for a well produced and well presented free newspaper that can offer a different take on the week’s events to other paid-for titles in Oxfordshire.

“This move will allow the Oxford Journal to go back to what it does best – covering life in one of the country’s busiest cities.”