While 71 percent of Americans believe that their local news outlet is doing well financially, local news organizations are actually struggling against declines in circulation and advertising. Over 2,100 newspapers have closed over the past 15 years.
In our connected age, there is an abundance of news and opinion coming at us 24/7. It’s all covered in minute detail, and we are free to share it and our opinions on the matter. But missing from that collection of trivia and substance is news of what is happening in our own backyards. Local news about a tax increase or a zoning decision is rarely of such interest that it trends nationally, but it has an outsized impact on the everyday lives of residents in small towns and city neighborhoods. When local newspapers fail, these communities are often left without any news organization to care about, watch over, and report on the actions of the county commission, city council, or the local school board.
Our guests this week on Inside Washington County are Chas Hundley and Mark Miller. Their news organizations face many of the same challenges.
Chas is the Editor/Publisher of The Banks Post and The Gales Creek Journal. He grew up in Gales Creek, establishing the Gales Creek Journal after high school. He’s since gone on to launch a small media company with publications covering far west Washington County and the Tillamook State Forest.
Mark Miller works with the Pamplin Media Group as Editor-in-Chief of several of their publications, including the Hillsboro News-Times, Forest Grove News-Times, and Beaverton Valley Times among others. The Pamplin Media Group is a media conglomerate owned by Robert B. Pamplin, Jr., operating primarily in the Portland metropolitan area. Pamplin owns 29 newspapers and employs over 200 people.
If you have any questions about this interview, please contact Rick Paulson, Producer ( rick@insidewashco.org ). More here about the Inside Washington County team.