Local Media Company
Under New Ownership
Kevlin has retired;
Barnwell named publisher;
Klein named editor
As of Friday, April 16, Iron String Press, Inc, publisher of The Freeman’s Journal, Hometown Oneonta and www.allotsego.com is under new ownership.
Tara Barnwell, general manager of Iron String Press, becomes president and publisher and actor-writer Greg Klein becomes editor of the company’s print and digital news and entertainment sources, succeeding Jim Kevlin.
Kevlin after 15 years as editor, publisher and president of Iron String Press and its media family, has retired.
With the new ownership, Iron String Press remains the only locally owned and locally focused news and entertainment operation in Otsego County.
Kevlin and his late wife, Mary Joan (M.J.) Kevlin, purchased The Freeman’s Journal in 2006 from Elinor Vincent and Michael Moffat, who had owned the paper for nearly a decade. The Freeman’s Journal was founded in 1808 by Judge William Cooper and has served Otsego County for the past 213 years. Kevlin, a graduate of Colgate University, spent 48 years in newspapers, mostly as an editor, in Upstate New York, New England and Pennsylvania.
The Kevlins expanded the company to include an Oneonta-based newspaper, Hometown Oneonta, and an online news source covering Otsego County, www.allotsego.com. M.J. Kevlin died in 2017 after a three-year battle with cancer. Kevlin and his current wife, the Rev. Sylvia Kevlin, pastor of Milford Methodist Church, who is also retiring at the end of the month, are planning to move out west to be closer to family.
“Looking backward,” Kevlin said, “I’m thankful and honored at how Otsego County supported our expansion into a countywide force, from Cooperstown’s historic Freeman’s Journal, to founding Hometown Oneonta, to launching www.AllOTSEGO.com, the full-service 24-7 news site. ‘Our’ includes my late wife M.J., new publisher Tara Barnwell, and many other dedicated, creative and hardworking staff members who embraced the excitement of local newspapering.”
“Looking forward,” he continued, “I’m delighted the newspapers and website will continue to be locally owned, guided by friends and neighbors who will have the welfare of Otsego County front of mind. Such independent ownership also allows the flexibility to experiment with the many exciting newsgathering and revenue-generating options becoming available to better serve citizens and shoppers alike. I envy the opportunities and challenges Tara and new editor Greg Klein will be tackling.”
Barnwell has been an executive with Iron String since 2007, as advertising director and general manager. A graduate of Auburn University, Barnwell served as a major account executive with The Tampa Tribune for 14 years before moving to Cooperstown in 1996 with her husband, Mark. The couple also operates The Barnwell Inn on Susquehanna Avenue.
“I’m very excited to keep local journalism alive in our region. We’ve got a great team in place that will continue to bring you the most current, local news.” Barnwell said. “I am very grateful to have worked closely with Jim Kevlin over the past 14 years and to have played a role in developing our print and digital publications into the most widely distributed news, entertainment and advertising sources in Otsego County. We have big shoes to fill with Jim Kevlin’s departure, but with the support of our new Editor, Greg Klein, an accomplished staff and the establishment of an experienced local Editorial Board, I am very confident that our publications will continue to grow and thrive and remain a vital voice of the Otsego County region.”
Klein is an upstate native who grew up in Montgomery County, Maryland. He majored in journalism at Auburn University and has worked at newspapers in Alabama and New York. The former editor of The Cooperstown Crier, Klein previously worked as a staff writer for The Daily Star in Oneonta.
In 2020, Klein became the founding board president of The Cooperstown, Oneonta, Otsego County Film Partnership, Inc., also known as Film COOP. Film COOP is the pioneer film commission office in the Mohawk Valley Economic Development District and the official film commission of Otsego County, the city and town of Oneonta, and the village of Cooperstown.
Klein is also the author of several plays, one nonfiction book and is self-publishing his first novel this year, “The Paper Tigers,” a historical fiction baseball story featuring Ty Cobb, Connie Mack, Ban Johnson and Hughie Jennings.
Klein is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and is working on a pilot. He is a graduate of The Second City’s New York City program and appeared in season six of “24.”
Klein lives in the town of Otsego with his wife and son. He is a member of the Cooperstown Booster Club and a board member at large of the Cooperstown Soccer Club.
Barnwell and Klein commence their stewardship of the print and digital operations of Iron String Press with this week’s publications.