Advertising dollars that once supported journalism have moved to Craigslist, Meta, and Google. Across the country, this has driven local newspapers out of business or resulted in zombie newsrooms.
In Oregon, the problem is particularly acute.
Out-of-state ownership and business-model disruptions have left Oregon with media enterprises unwilling and unable to devote sufficient resources to quality, independent local journalism.
Eugene’s “ghost newspaper” and Salem’s much-depleted daily are owned by a hedge fund. They produce few of the stories they publish. They do not provide routine coverage of government meetings. In Portland, the newsroom of the New York City-owned newspaper The Oregonian — which once had 400 reporters and editors — has shrunk by more than 80 percent. In addition, the daily has sold its building and printing plant.
The Klamath Herald & News lost all its reporters last year and is now owned by a Minneapolis-based company. Other newspapers like the Lebanon Express, Medford Mail Tribune, and Bandon Western World have closed entirely. The McMinnville News-Register just dropped to a weekly printing schedule.
That same day, EO Media, the second-largest locally owned news company in Oregon, which publishes the Bend Bulletin, The Daily Astorian, and 13 other newspapers across the state, announced it would lay off 15% of its workforce. It also announced it would stop printing five of its newspapers entirely and would put itself up for sale to what would almost certainly be an out-of-state buyer. On October 23, EO announced it had also been sold to Carpenter Media.
The result of all this? According to The Oregonian, 75% of our state’s newspaper jobs have been eliminated in the past 24 years.
It’s a testament to the dedication of Oregon’s remaining journalists that they’ve continued to produce strong work even in such adverse circumstances. But there are more important stories than we have the collective capacity to cover, and newsroom resources are stretched thin.
In Oregon, one of the basic building blocks of effective democracy — local news — is crumbling. That's why we're here.
