The Sumter Item has new publisher

Former Forsyth County newspaperman first publisher from outside Osteen family

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The Sumter Item has named its first non-family publisher in the newspaper's 123-year history.

William Vincent "Vince" Johnson Jr., former publisher of the Forsyth County News in Cumming, Ga., is the fifth publisher of the locally owned, independent South Carolina newspaper.

He follows Sumter Item founder Hubert Graham Osteen (1894-1955); Hubert Duvall Osteen Sr. (1955-1987); Hubert Duvall Osteen Jr. (1987-2005) and John Duvall "Jack" Osteen (2005-2017).

In a statement, the Osteen family said that bringing a young, versatile leader to Sumter marks a new era in the company's long history.

"We are proud to have attracted someone as talented as Vince to our company and to Sumter. His proven track record as a modern community publisher will serve both our newspaper and Sumter in countless ways."

Johnson has been publisher of Forsyth County News since 2014, and his team received the inaugural Mega-Innovation Award at the 2016 Key Executives Mega-Conference for newspapers, as judged by the Harvard Business School.

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