EO Media Group is making substantial changes across the company, including layoffs and reductions in print frequency at several newspapers.
EO Media Group, a fourth-generation, family-held media company, operates 12 newspapers in Oregon and Washington, including The ÅÝֱܽ²¥ and the Redmond Spokesman.
During the past year, advertising revenues have dropped and operating expenses have increased substantially. As a result, the company needs to make these changes to stabilize its operations.
Despite the cuts, the company says daily news coverage will continue online in its existing markets and it will continue to employ journalists at all of its locations.
“As a family and owners of EO Media Group, we are committed to the continuity of our publications within the communities we have served for over a century,†Steve Forrester and Kathryn Brown, majority owners of EO Media Group, said in a statement.
“We have retained a firm to evaluate all options for the company, and our primary goal remains the same: to preserve and strengthen the important connection our newspapers have with the local residents of Oregon and the Long Beach Peninsula. EO Media Group is also considering the nonprofit model of newspaper publishing. Our aim is to ensure that these publications continue to thrive and reflect the voices and stories of the communities they represent.â€
Next steps for company
On Monday, 28 of the company’s employees were notified they are being laid off and their jobs are being eliminated this month. Another 19 employees will have their hours reduced starting in July, corresponding to reduced publishing days. The company currently has 185 employees.
The EO Media Group is taking the following steps to move forward:
• The ÅÝֱܽ²¥ will combine its Saturday and Sunday print editions, which will be delivered in the Saturday mail. The ÅÝֱܽ²¥ will drop from seven to five e-editions per week.
• The Rogue Valley Times in Medford will drop from three print editions a week to two per week.
• The East Oregonian in Pendleton will move from two to one print publishing day and will expand coverage to include reporting from its five eastern Oregon sister locations.
The La Grande Observer, Blue Mountain Eagle, Hermiston Herald, Wallowa County Chieftain and the Baker City Herald will suspend print publication July 1. News staff will remain in each area and continue to post news online and contribute to the East Oregonian print publication.
All print subscribers of those newspapers will receive the East Oregonian, and news from these communities will be printed in the EO, which will serve as the regional newspaper for all of northeastern Oregon.
“While I’m encouraged by the philanthropic and legislative support of journalism beginning to take root across the country, they can’t solely be relied on to fix the journalism business model, especially in rural markets,†CEO Heidi Wright said. “Small family-held media companies like EO Media have to adjust operations to the new realities of the industry in order to survive.â€
Rural newspapers hit harder
The EO Media Group’s problems are widespread among community newspapers.
John Galer, chairman of the National Newspaper Association’s Board of Directors, said the postal service, which many publications use instead of delivery drivers, has increased rates 50% since 2021.
Another increase is scheduled for this summer that would bump that up to 60%. Meanwhile, mail delivery keeps getting slower.
“Overall, our industry is facing incredible challenges,†said Dean Ridings, CEO of America’s Newspapers Foundation.
Rural newspapers are harder hit as local merchants who support those publications with advertising have difficulty competing with chain stores and online retailers, he added.
That’s resulted in news deserts, and a recent Northwestern University study showed that 2.5 newspapers are closing per week.
“If you go back 10 years, there were probably 30%, 35% more papers across the country,†said Galer, the publisher of the Hillsboro Journal-News in Hillsboro, Ill.
A third of Oregon’s newspapers have shuttered in the past 20 years, leading to news deserts in two counties and leaving 16 counties with a single news publication covering hundreds of square miles, according to Jody Lawrence-Turner, executive director of the Fund for Oregon Rural Journalism. Additionally, 68% of Oregon’s incorporated cities lack a local news source.
“Democracy is at risk and communities suffer when community-based reporting disappears,†she said.
Even with publications that remain open, thousands of newsroom jobs have been lost, Ridings said.
“Newspapers are often the very fabric of the communities they serve. When a newspaper reduces its capacity, everyone feels it,†he said.
The need to pay for journalism
Ridings said that during the pandemic, newspapers saw an encouraging uptick of subscribers.
“Unfortunately, it does not seem there’s been a willingness to continue that level of support,†he added.
The industry still battles the perception that information should be free online.
“There’s a continued lack of understanding of the need to pay for good journalism,†Ridings said.
He said Google uses newspaper content without compensation, but the industry is seeking legislative change to correct that problem.
Galer said he was a “glass half-full kind of guy†despite the challenges because people still want local journalism.
“There are all these issues going on that people relish knowing about,†he said.
“You have to be positive. There’s always struggles, there’s always hardships, but that’s the newspaper business. You have to keep on rolling,†Galer said.
(4) comments
The Bend paper is useful for local events and stories. However the reprints from the primary MSM news sources reflect false narratives as well as TDS. See the opinion piece on Washington Post from Johnathan Turley today. There is no amount of screaming to people who are analytical with Math and Science backgrounds which recognize many of these false narratives. The bulk of citizens might buy some of what you sell, but many of us think for ourselves. Calculate the odds for example of six states going from hundreds of thousands votes in one direction to the opposite direction overnight. Let me know what you find, it is pretty clear. Meanwhile keep up the good work regarding outdoor activities, about the only reason to read the paper other than the weather forecast.
I would also add that the bulletin believes it knows the difference between truth and misinformation and censors with clear bias and never admits being wrong. Only half the population supports censorship of "wrong think" and thus doesn't support free speech for everyone. It's interesting how those who aren't extreme leftists are the most tolerant, yet are the ones who get censored. The feeling of "being right" and everyone else is wrong, is a powerful motivator in the human psyche and has infected the bulk of journalism. Considering all the benefits and detriments that The ÅÝֱܽ²¥ represents, it's probably better overall if it ceases operations.
Very sorry. With attacks on legitimate news sources (not partisan opinionaters) and citizens refusing to pay for a broad range of news, the inevitable will happen. The dumbing down of America. This is how Democracies die.
Best wishes to EO Media. You will continue to have my personal and financial support.
It's true that the economic model for newspapers has been severely eroded by the internet, which has led to the drive to get attention back by any means possible for survival. But these compensatory measures have led to abandoning adherence to seeking the truth and maintaining balance.
Consequently, the current media, both large and small, are a part of the threat to democracy as truth and balance no longer undergird their reporting, including EO Media. Reporting seems to have the goal to foment social bickering and distrust of each other, government and the foundational tenets of our country, all in the name of "DEI". Our culture has to be demeaned and devalued akin to self immolation, while romanticizing the plight of the self professed "marginalized" groups that benefit from American culture, yet claim to be its victims, which is nothing but a narcissistic strategy to gain position and power without merit.
The ÅÝֱܽ²¥'s subtitle "Empowering our community" is arrogant, presumptuous and condescending. The ÅÝֱܽ²¥ needs the community more than the community needs The ÅÝֱܽ²¥ and comes across as overly matriarchal treating the readers like they are prepubescent children - perhaps this appeals to the subgroup that is most likely to pay for a subscription? If there was only some way for The ÅÝֱܽ²¥ to actually listen and learn from the community it serves, I wonder what would happen? Could they learn if there is actually a better balanced approach?
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