Daily Info

About Daily Info

Daily Info - formally Daily Information - is a community information service for Oxford, England, comprising a long-running printed information sheet and a comprehensive website at dailyinfo.co.uk. The printed sheet has been in continuous existence since 28 September 1964, displayed around the University of Oxford's colleges and departments and in local businesses, and is one of the most enduring institutions of Oxford's civic life. The website, described as "your one-stop guide to staying, living and working in the historic city of Oxford", is a locally-run resource for townsfolk, students, visitors and tourists, packed with events listings, reviews, articles, cartoons and practical guides. Founded and run for 40 years by John Rose, Daily Information has chronicled the cultural and social life of Oxford for more than six decades, growing from a single side of A4 paper into a multi-platform local media institution.

Founding by John Rose

Daily Information was founded by John Rose, born 26 April 1925 in Tunbridge Wells, who ran it for 40 years until his death on 17 December 2004. The first printed sheet, dated 28 September 1964, was a single side of A4 paper, simply showing the theatre and cinema listings for the week ahead, together with information on placing announcements in further editions, news of student "digs" and items for sale. Rose later explained the thinking behind it: frustrated by the difficulty and expense of placing a small advertisement in the Oxford Mail - which could not be done by phone, whose office was shut on early closing day, and which would not take the ad until the following Monday - he concluded, "Why not have our own publication and accept ads by phone and immediately? So we did." The premises were originally in Warnborough Road, North Oxford.

Six decades of the printed sheet

From that single sheet of A4, Daily Information grew into the brightly coloured A2 sheet that became a familiar sight pinned up around Oxford's colleges, departments, shops and cafes. The sheet provides information on events in and outside of Oxford, as well as reviews and small advertisements. Published daily in its early years, as its name implies, it now appears on Tuesdays and Fridays during both university term-time and the vacation. Its continuous existence since 1964 makes it one of the longest-running community publications in the country, a thread of continuity through six decades of change in the city.

The website

Daily Info now has a regularly updated website, dailyinfo.co.uk, from which the printed information is drawn. The site presents itself as a comprehensive, locally-run resource: "Find things to see and do, check what's on at theatres and museums, find jobs and accommodation, search for restaurants, essential sightseeing and attractions recommended by the people who live here." It is aimed equally at townsfolk, students, visitors and tourists, and combines practical service journalism with reviews, articles and cartoons. The site's content is organised into guides covering the city and its surroundings, food and drink, events, classified advertisements and community services.

Oxford guide and things to do

The site's Oxford Guide covers things to see and do in the city, from essential sightseeing for the first-time visitor - including a top-ten list for those only in town for a day - to beloved local institutions. Its punting guide is one of its signature pieces: "Who could visit - or live in - Oxford, without trying their hand at punting?" Riverside walks along the Thames and its quiet tributaries are covered in detail, alongside shopping guides and introductions to the city's colleges, museums and historic sites. The tone throughout is that of a knowledgeable local friend rather than a tourist board.

Food and drink coverage

Daily Info's food and drink section includes restaurant reviews written by its own reviewers, a searchable directory of Oxford pubs and bars to help readers find their perfect drinking establishment, guides to home deliveries and takeaways, the celebrated "kebab van reviews", and specialist coverage such as a guide to gluten-free Oxford. The pub coverage is particularly valued in a city famous for its historic inns - including the Eagle and Child, where J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis met to drink and discuss their work - and the site's reviewers approach the city's eating and drinking scene with affection and rigour.

Events listings and reviews

The What's On listings are the digital heir to the original 1964 theatre and cinema listings, covering theatre, concerts, gigs, cinema, exhibitions, festivals, lectures, food and drink events and attractions across Oxford. The site also publishes reviews of current shows and events, from comedy lectures to spy-thriller plays, giving readers a trusted local critical voice. Community events, workshops and guided walks all find a place in the listings, reflecting the site's roots as a noticeboard for the whole city.

Classifieds and community services

True to its origins as a sheet carrying small ads for digs and items for sale, Daily Info maintains extensive classified sections: accommodation, jobs, furniture and bedding, gardening, phones, sports equipment, pets, musicians and instruments, lifts and journey shares, lost and found, and services offered from computer repair to tuition. The site also carries practical information for living in Oxford - transport, shopping, and guides to the surrounding Oxfordshire countryside - making it as useful to a new student arriving in the city as it is to a lifelong resident.

An Oxford institution

More than sixty years after John Rose's single sheet of A4, Daily Information remains woven into the fabric of Oxford. Generations of students have found their digs, their theatre tickets and their secondhand bicycles through its pages; generations of visitors have planned their days around its guides. In an era when local media has contracted across Britain, Daily Info's survival - in print twice a week and online every day - is a testament to the durability of a simple idea: a noticeboard for a city, run by people who live there, telling everyone what's on. It is, as its website says, all about Oxford.

Around Oxfordshire

While Oxford is its heartland, Daily Info's coverage extends into the surrounding county. Its "Around Oxfordshire" section guides readers to the towns, villages, countryside and attractions beyond the city boundary, from riverside pubs to country walks. This wider remit reflects the reality of Oxford life: many of the city's students, workers and residents live, socialise and explore across the county, and the site's practical, locally-written guidance follows them. The same insider tone that characterises the city guides applies here - recommendations from people who know the area, not generic tourist copy.

Tone and editorial voice

Daily Info's voice is one of its most distinctive assets. The site writes like a knowledgeable, slightly irreverent local friend: its college guides are "pleasantly maze-y", its pub coverage affectionate but honest, its event reviews concise and trustworthy. Cartoons and quirky features sit alongside practical listings, giving the site a personality that corporate city guides cannot replicate. Because it is locally run and has been embedded in Oxford for more than sixty years, it writes with an authority born of genuine familiarity - the kind that knows which pubs the students actually use, which walks are worth the effort, and where to find the city's hidden corners. That voice, first heard on a single sheet of A4 paper in 1964, is the reason Daily Info has endured.