JUNE 2008: AROUND THE STATE
Local newspapers are caught in the Net
STATEWIDE Since
2005, Monday through Friday circulation has dropped by 33,000
at the Oregonian, 6,000 at the Salem Statesman Journal and
3,400 at the Eugene Register-Guard. At the same time the number
of independent blogs based in Oregon is up to 1,600 and rising,
and the nemesis of the newspaper industry, Craigslist,
has established vibrant online markets for its free classified
and low-cost job ads in Portland, Salem, Eugene, Corvallis,
Bend, the Oregon Coast and Medford-Ashland-Klamath.
With advertising revenues dropping, layoffs and buyouts are a
constant threat. The Portland Tribune recently laid off the
bulk of its copy editing team and two writers. The publisher
and the editor for the tiny weekly Bandon Western World were
replaced by one editor/publisher from Lee Enterprises, which
runs 55 dailies and more than 300 non-dailies in 23 states. In
Vancouver, the Columbian has eliminated 30 positions this
year.
The Tribune’s most recent layoffs come as the paper moves
to publishing once instead of twice a week while attempting to
bolster its website, portlandtribune.com. One of the jobs lost
in that transition was the fulltime web reporter.
The proliferation of information sources on the Internet has
created fewer rather than more journalism positions.
Oregon’s more successful blogs, such as Jack Bog’s
Blog, Blue Oregon, and Bike Portland, draw around 40,000 page
views per week, enough to bring in targeted advertising
revenue. But even the hottest of the local blogs remain largely
one-person enterprises, better suited for creating content than
jobs.
BEN JACKLET
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