The Oregon Capital Bureau is a joint effort of two family-owned news publishers to improve news coverage of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon.
The bureau was launched in 2014 by the Pamplin Media Group, which owns 25 newspapers in the Portland Metropolitan Area and Central Oregon, and the EO Media Group, which owns 15 newspapers and two magazines in Eastern and Central Oregon and on the Oregon Coast. [1] [2]
In 2015, the bureau launched the newsletter Oregon Capital Insider. [3] [4] One of the leading advocates of establishing the bureau was Steve Forrester, president of the EO Media Group, and then publisher of the Daily Astorian . [5]
The Salem Reporter was an original partner in the bureau. Former Oregonian investigative reporter Les Zaitz directed the bureau from September 2018 [6] [7] to early 2020.
In spring 2020, the Oregon Capital Bureau reorganized, with the Salem Reporter leaving the operation, along with Zaitz.
The content is now drawn from Pamplin Media Group and EO Media Group, with additional contributions by veteran Salem journalist Dick Hughes.
The Portland Tribune is a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is part of the Pamplin Media Group, which publishes a number of community newspapers in the Portland metropolitan area. Launched in 2001, the paper was published twice weekly until 2008, when it was reduced to weekly. It returned to twice-weekly publication in 2014 and was again reduced to weekly publication in 2020. It was distributed free from its 2001 launch until October 2022, then becoming available only by paid subscription or purchase at retail outlets.
The Miss Oregon competition is a regional scholarship competition that selects the representative for the US state of Oregon in the Miss America pageant. The annual event includes contestants from across the state and awards scholarships to the participants.
The Mail Tribune was a seven-day daily newspaper based in Medford, Oregon, United States that served Jackson County, Oregon, and adjacent areas of Josephine County, Oregon and northern California.
The Pamplin Media Group (PMG) is a media conglomerate owned by Carpenter Media Group and operating primarily in the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Robert B. Pamplin, Jr. founded the company in 2001 and sold it to Carpenter in 2024. As of 2019, the company owns 25 newspapers and employs 200 people.
The West Linn Tidings is a weekly newspaper published in West Linn, Oregon, United States, a suburb of Portland. It is owned by the Pamplin Media Group.
Eagle Newspapers was an American newspaper publisher serving the states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho. The company originated in 1948 when Elmo Smith purchased the Blue Mountain Eagle. He would later sell the paper but the company's name would be derived from that title. Smith served a term as Oregon Governor and upon his death the business was managed by his son Denny Smith, who rapidly grew it from three newspapers to nearly twenty in the span of two decades. By 1985, Eagle Newspapers publications accounted for nearly one-half of the weekly newspapers sold each week in Oregon. The company sold off its last paper in 2020.
The Central Oregonian is a twice-weekly newspaper published in Prineville in the U.S. state of Oregon.
The Woodburn Independent is a weekly paper published in Woodburn, Oregon, United States, and also covering the cities of Hubbard, Aurora, Donald, Gervais, St. Paul and Mt. Angel, and the surrounding area of Marion County. The Independent was founded in 1888. It is published on Wednesdays by Pamplin Media Group.
The Herald-Pioneer is a weekly newspaper published in Canby, Oregon, United States. It dates back to 1906 and is owned by Pamplin Media Group. The paper also serves the cities of Aurora and Molalla.The Herald-Pioneer was formed in 2020 through the merger of the Canby Herald and Molalla Pioneer.
The Hillsboro Tribune was a weekly newspaper that covered the city of Hillsboro in the U.S. state of Oregon and was published from 2012 to 2019. It was replaced in 2019 by a Hillsboro edition of the Forest Grove News-Times, a sister publication.
The News-Times is a weekly newspaper covering the cities of Forest Grove and Hillsboro in the U.S. state of Oregon. Established in 1886 and with coverage focused on Forest Grove for most of its history, the paper only recently added equivalent coverage of the much larger city of Hillsboro, when, in August 2019, publisher Pamplin Media Group launched a separate Hillsboro edition of the News-Times, to replace Pamplin's Hillsboro Tribune. The paper is published on Wednesdays. It is owned by Pamplin Media Group, which owns other community newspapers in the Portland metropolitan area.
The Columbia County Spotlight, previously known as the Scappoose Spotlight and the South County Spotlight, is a weekly newspaper in Columbia County, Oregon, United States, established in 1961.
Rebecca Anderson (Muessle) (born May 1991) is an American beauty pageant titleholder from Oregon City, Oregon. She won a series of local titles beginning in 2011 and was crowned Miss Oregon 2014.
Nichole Renee Mead Zahner is an American beauty pageant titleholder from Newport, Oregon. She was crowned Miss Oregon 2012 after pageant officials discovered that the original winner did not meet state residency requirements. Mead competed at the Miss America 2013 pageant in January 2013 but was not a semi-finalist for the national title.
CC Barber is an American beauty pageant titleholder from Scappoose, Oregon, who was crowned Miss Oregon 2009. She competed for the Miss America 2010 title in January 2010 and placed in the Top 15 semi-finalists.
The Malheur Enterprise is a weekly newspaper in Vale, Oregon. It was established in 1909, and since October 2015 has been published by Malheur Enterprise Pub. Co. It is issued weekly on Wednesdays. Early on, it carried the title Malheur Enterprise and Vale Plaindealer. As of 2018 its circulation has been estimated at 1,207 to 1,277. Its print and online circulation in 2022 was approximately 3,000.
The EO Media Group, formerly known as the East Oregonian Publishing Company, is a newspaper publishing company based in the U.S. state of Oregon. It publishes 17 newspapers in the state and in southwestern Washington.
Journalism in the U.S. state of Oregon had its origins from the American settlers of the Oregon Country in the 1840s. This was decades after explorers like Robert Gray and Lewis and Clark first arrived in the region, several months before the first newspaper was issued in neighboring California, and several years before the United States formally asserted control of the region by establishing the Oregon Territory.
Salem Reporter is a digital news service based in Salem, Oregon. It was launched in September 2018 by longtime investigative journalist Les Zaitz, with investment from businessman Larry Tokarski, president of a real estate development firm. Its primary revenue source is from reader subscriptions, which cost $10/month. The site aims to distinguish itself from its competitors with the quality and credibility of its reporting. According to local news scholar Damian Radcliffe, the Reporter's freedom from the legacy costs that a traditional newspaper like the Statesman Journal has allowed it to enter the field with unusual agility.