31 Oregon News Outlets Experience Drastic Changes

Monday was not a good day for local media in Oregon.

First, Portland’s largest newspaper group, Pamplin Media, announced the sale of its operations to Mississippi media conglomerate Carpenter Media Group (CMG), who apparently “takes the responsibility of continuing [Pamplin’s] work seriously and will strive to uphold the high standards [they have] set for all of us in the industry.”

How CMG will do this without changing the operation is yet to be seen. Over the past few months they have been buying up a ton of local newspapers beyond Oregon, adding to their count of over 180 publications and websites in the U.S. and Canada. 

Another blow to Oregon media occurred that same day when EO Media Group (EO) announced that it will reduce the printing frequency of many of its 12 Oregon newspapers, lay off 28 employees and trim the hours of 19 others as it searches for a new owner. 

This is a large departure from EO’s role as savior in 2019 when it beat offers from two out-of-state regional chains to purchase the Bend Bulletin during the local newspaper’s bankruptcy proceedings, and from its move in early 2023 to fill the closure of Jackson County’s Mail Tribune by creating the Rogue Valley Times.

Here are the upcoming printing changes from EO Media Group, effective July 1:

• Print editions of the following weekly and biweekly papers will cease: La Grande Observer, Blue Mountain Eagle (John Day), Hermiston Herald, Wallowa County Chieftain (Enterprise) and Baker City Herald.

• However, news staff will remain in each of the above areas to post news online and contribute to the East Oregonian print publication.
• The Bulletin (Bend) will publish five days each week instead of six, combining its Saturday and Sunday papers.

• The Rogue Valley Times (Medford) will publish two days each week instead of three. 

• The East Oregonian (Pendleton) will publish one day each week instead of two.

The Pamplin newspapers and websites that have been sold include: 

• Portland Tribune
• Lake Oswego Review
• West Linn Tidings
• Wilsonville Spokesman
• The News-Times (Forest Grove and Hillsboro)
• The Times (Tigard and Tualatin)
• Beaverton Valley Times
• The Outlook (Gresham)
• Sandy Post
• Estacada News
• Columbia County Spotlight (Scappoose and St. Helens)
• The Herald-Pioneer (Canby and Molalla)
• Woodburn Independent
• Newberg Graphic
• Madras Pioneer
• Central Oregonian (Prineville)
• Milwaukie Review
• Oregon City News
• Sherwood Gazette
• Southwest Community Connection (Portland)
• The Bee (Portland)
• Business Tribune 
• Your Oregon News

This news comes at a time when I’ve been researching my follow up book to “A Modern Guide to Public Relations.” Within this research, local media has appeared as a bright spot amid countless studies outlining the decline of public trust in media. 

For instance, only 35% of Americans say they can rely on national news to deliver the information they need, while over half of Americans say they can rely on local news to deliver the information they need, according to the American Views 2022 report by the Gallup and Knight Foundation.

We can only hope that this type of trust is maintained when the new and future newspaper owners take over. These local newspapers have added to the pride, tradition and awareness community members feel about their neighborhoods — all impossible without trust.