Our story

Fresh out of the University of Central Florida, twin brothers Alex and Isaac Babcock worked for the Seminole Chronicle in 2004 before taking over the then Oviedo Voice in 2007. That newspaper was brought under the fold of the Winter Park-Maitland Observer [Observer Newspapers] and later evolved into the Seminole Voice, covering all of the county. Jenny Andreasson and Jonathan Gallagher joined them as a reporter and copy editor, respectively, where they all worked as a team to produce news for Greater Oviedo and Winter Springs.

Alex took a hiatus from local news and became a journalist in the Army. Isaac stayed on and led the Voice, and Andreasson headed the Observer. In 2008, Observer Newspapers brought on Megan Stokes who led the East Orlando Sun, whose coverage areas included Bithlo and Chuluota. Gallagher copy edited all three publications and helped design them. Eventually Andreasson became managing editor for all three newspapers.

Economic forces and changing media tastes brought the demise of those newspapers between 2012 and 2017, but the five team members stayed in touch. Their shared love of quality journalism and the Greater Oviedo & Winter Springs area birthed this project, Oviedo Community News, with the goal of better news coverage for the community that focuses on local readers’ needs.

The team’s first meeting was in August 2020 and for two years we met for hours every Sunday afternoon. We all had other jobs and young families so Sundays suited us best. We talked about how to create something that’s responsive, transparent, helpful and informative. We referred to the project as an experiment at first, unsure whether we could create and sustain a nonprofit newsroom on our own. But by January 2021 we decided to take the leap and officially incorporate OCN as Central Florida Community News Inc., thinking it wise to form it under this name with the overarching goal of replicating what we built in other nearby news deserts. 

We were doing official things like creating bylaws and petitioning the IRS for nonprofit status while we began partnering with community organizations who helped us spread around a survey that asked people what their information needs were. Our would-be readers told us what was really important to them, and some of it was surprising. Once we got a couple hundred people to weigh in and conducted several dozen interviews with community members and local leaders, we felt we had the direction we needed and Megan Stokes and Isaac Babcock started attending Oviedo and Winter Springs city hall meetings, publishing the reports on OCN’s Facebook page. 

We began working on an official website and on Sept. 16, 2021 we launched the newsroom officially with The Early Bird newsletter, which went out to a couple hundred people. Around that time, Megan started with the Google News Initiative Startups Boot Camp, learning the ins and outs of running a successful news business. Everything from budgeting to creating an ethics policy was covered. The more we learned, the more inspired we became with creating something that we felt did news the right way – putting the readers we serve at the center of everything we do. 

Since then, we’ve grown to include four freelance reporters, two student interns per semester, two copy editors and a readership that’s 10,000 strong for the newsletter and anywhere between 25,000 to 40,000 on our website. We hear from people all of the time about how much more informed and connected they feel because of our work and we hear from people about what they wish we would do, which helps us get better and better as we grow. 

Because of that support, we were able to launch an ambitious collaborative investigative project about the Florida Wildlife Corridor’s tenuous existence and how it affects our lives locally. OCN worked with Central Florida Public Media, Florida Trident and WGCU Public Media to produce a statewide series after reads told us that environmental reporting is important to them. As we continue to grow and gain more support from our readers, we hope to add more in-depth investigative projects, as well as collaborative initiatives, to our regular news coverage.

Before OCN incorporated in 2021, we spent months asking the community what information matters most so we could tailor our public-service journalism to your needs. We have worked listening into our regular work flows, asking readers for their input on upcoming reporting projects, asking about their information gaps at community events and meeting with our Community Advisory Board. Want to weigh in on our coverage? Do that here. The slide below illuminates how we chose to focus our coverage based on feedback from your neighbors. 

2025

–OCN won the national award for Operational Resilience from Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers. The award “recognizes a LION member that has made significant progress toward strengthening its operational resilience by establishing processes, policies, and a people-centered company culture designed to support staff, manage growth, and promote sustainability.”
OCN got the award because we, knowing 2025 would be a growth year for the organization, implemented policies and practices to create an efficient, meaningful and effective onboarding process for both new board of directors members and new staff members. 

-OCN Editor-in-Chief Megan Stokes was listed alongside Central Florida Public Media President and General Manager Judith Smelser in Scott Maxwell’s “10 People Who Make Orlando a Better Place to Live” list in2025. The two were on the list for co-founding the News Collaborative of Central Florida, which is a group of 15 news organizations that began partnering after realizing that together they could do more to serve the community. Creating the partnership will not only strengthen journalism in the region but in the Greater Oviedo and Winter Springs community as well since the group will focus on ways to create sustainability for all of its members. 

– OCN staff won first place in Local Government Reporting from the Florida Press Association, which judged our election reporting, comprehensive voter guides and deep dives into critical government issues. 

-The Florida Press Association recognized OCN, Central Florida Public Media, The Florida Trident and WGCU Public Media with first place in Agricultural and Environmental Reporting for the collaborative investigation exploring the impacts of growth and development on the Florida Wildlife Corridor, which published in 2024.

-Oviedo Community News, Central Florida Public Media, The Florida Trident and WGCU Public Media won first place for environmental reporting from the Florida Association of Broadcast Journalists for the Florida Wildlife Corridor investigation.

-Oviedo Community News was named alongside its publishing partners in a Edward R. Murrow Award for feature reporting for the Florida Wildlife Corridor investigation in 2024.

-The Florida Wildlife Corridor investigation also won third place in the regional Green Eyeshade Awards for Environmental Reporting.

2024

-Society of Professional Journalists Sunshine State Awarded OCN Editor-in-chief Megan Stokes Editor of the Year.
One judge wrote: “What Megan Stokes has been able to accomplish is nothing short of stunning and inspiring. Communities deserve more Megan Stokeses across the country, who, when faced with challenges to building news organizations, somehow find a way to get it done. It’s a testament to her, and also, the community.”

-Institute for Nonprofit News Awards made OCN’s 2023 Voter Guide a finalist for the Community Champion Award, which “honors an INN member organization that made a significant contribution to the well-being of its community through a journalism-centered project or service”.

-OCN reporter Eric Orvieto was named a finalist in the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sunshine State Awards competition in the Beat Reporting – Underrepresented Communities category for the articles he wrote on the Boston Cemetery property annexation and road work, his article on the Historic Oviedo Colored Schools Museum ground breaking, and his profile on local activist Kathy Hunt. 

2023

-OCN’s 2022 Voter Guide was a finalist in Local Independent Online News Publishers’ Sustainability Awards’ Outstanding Coverage category. OCN placed fourth out of more than 300 entries from across the U.S.

-Society of Professional Journalists Sunshine State Awards honored OCN’s The Early Bird Newsletter  with a third place award.

-Florida Press Club Excellence in Journalism Competition awarded OCN’s coverage in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian first place in the Public Safety News category. The submission also included an article about the Lake Harney folks who were stranded and an article about how each community fared after Ian hit.
The judges wrote: “Very impactful and personal stories about a community dealing with disaster — and its resilience to overcome it. Kudos to the writers for doing excellent work in a challenging environment.” 

-Florida Press Club Excellence in Journalism Competition awarded OCN first place for writing in the Government News category for articles about Round Lake Park improvements by Eric Orvieto, a Winter Springs meeting concerning hurricane damage by Isaac Babcock and a preview article ahead of a county meeting concerning the Yarborough Ranch property that Megan Stokes wrote.
The judges commented: “Excellent series of writing and reporting on important, but often under-covered community issues.”

-Florida Press Club Excellence in Journalism Competition awarded OCN second place for Community News writing.
The judges said: “A great example of community news. These aren’t stories that get picked up by larger news organizations. This is news and information that matters to a hyper-local audience. It’s well written and extremely accessible”. OCN submitted Eric Orvieto’s “dad jokes” article about the Oviedo Police Departments’ often quippy roadway signs, his article about a police officer and K-9 retiring, and his article about the Historic Oviedo Colored Schools Museum opening. 

2022

-Florida Press Club Excellence in Journalism Competition awarded OCN third place for Environmental Reporting for an explainer of the rural boundary by Megan Stokes.