Executive Summary
In late 2022, as attention to the crisis in local news grew around the country, the Agora Journalism Center released the first of its kind report on the state of local news in Oregon: Assessing Oregon’s Local News & Information Ecosystem 2022. That report documented the declining number of news outlets in our state and mapped those that remained—from local TV stations to large multimedia entities like Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) to tiny newspapers serving far-flung rural communities—and highlighted some newly emerging news providers. The report also shared insights from dozens of journalists and civic organization leaders who were unanimous in their concern that the diminishing amount of quality local news negatively impacts public life in Oregon.
Two years later, the picture is even more concerning. Since our 2022 report was published, the urgency of the local news crisis has deepened—nationally and here in Oregon. A report from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University found local newspapers around the country closed at a higher rate in 2023 than the year before, for an average of about two closures per week—for a total of almost 2,900 newspapers lost since 2005. Major cuts at large news organizations around the country, such as a 20% reduction in staff at the Los Angeles Times, intensified the sense of crisis, prompting The Atlantic to ask, “Is American Journalism Headed Toward an ‘Extinction-Level Event’?”
Here in Oregon, a number of newspapers have closed since 2022, including the 116-year-old Pulitzer prize winning Medford Mail Tribune. Others have been sold, including the Portland Tribune and two dozen other papers in the Pamplin Media Group as well as a dozen newspapers formerly owned by EO Media including the Bend Bulletin. Meanwhile, budgets and staff at many news outlets continue to be squeezed, while AI-generated “news” and mis- and disinformation of all kinds proliferate online. These trends combine in the alarming appearance of “zombie newspapers” featuring questionable AI-generated content that arise on the web domains of real newspapers that have died—as happened recently at the Ashland Daily Tidings.
This report offers an updated look at the state of local news in Oregon, focusing again on the whole range of news outlets from large to small that provide original civically relevant news about state and local affairs. We provide an updated map of Oregon’s news outlets across many types of media, as well as fresh insights on how much Oregonians say they trust local news, and what Oregon’s news outlets need to be sustainable and locally relevant.
This report also provides updates on new initiatives by journalistic support organizations, philanthropists, and state governments aimed at constructing a “three-legged stool” of newsroom innovation, private and philanthropic investment, and media policy to strengthen local news.
Key findings include:
- Nearly 20 local news outlets in Oregon have closed or have been merged with other outlets since late 2022. That means that in addition to heavy losses prior to 2022, another 13% of Oregon’s newspapers closed since late 2022.
- Three dozen of Oregon’s local newspapers were sold to a single company, Carpenter Media, in 2024. With that sale, nearly 30% of Oregon’s newspapers were transferred to out of state ownership in one year. The impact of these sales remains to be seen. Research in other settings suggests that these sales may further reduce the amount, depth, and diversity of local news in communities around the state, but much depends upon how Carpenter operates these newspapers.
- Oregon has also continued to lose original local news coverage because, as resources shrink, many outlets pull back on public affairs reporting. A review of news outlets’ websites and interviews with journalists around the state suggests that even where news outlets remain in business, the actual local news they can produce is sometimes thin.
- At the same time, new local news providers have recently opened or are in the process of launching, including the Oregon Journalism Project, spearheaded by the founding editor and co-owner of Willamette Week, Lookout Eugene-Springfield, headed by a California-based journalist and news entrepreneur, and Uplift Local, which focuses on community-centered, multilingual journalism in the Columbia Gorge. Smaller new entries include Newsberg, founded in 2024, which champions “local, neighbor-owned journalism,” while some small digital outlets launched earlier have now expanded, like the newly renamed Lincoln Chronicle.
- Amidst these changes, some long-time legacy stalwarts are thriving and positioning themselves for increased statewide impact. The Oregonian and Oregon Public Broadcasting in particular are important anchor institutions in the state’s local news ecosystem. Content-sharing partnerships and other collaborations among newsrooms are also on the rise—critical ways to keep providing local news to Oregonians even as individual newsroom resources shrink.
- Other new initiatives are creating more infrastructure for local news in Oregon and are beginning to contribute local news themselves. Examples include FORJournalism, which focuses on connecting vulnerable publications with trainings and tools and has evolved to become a news provider as well as a support organization, and the Oregon Media Collaborative, facilitated by the Agora Journalism Center, which is bringing together dozens of journalists from around the state to work together to solve resource and reporting challenges.
- A survey of Oregon Media Collaborative members indicates the acute resource needs of Oregon’s newsrooms. Many journalists told us they want to hire more staff to be able to do more local reporting. They also want training and support in collaboration, community listening, and sustainability.
- A survey of Oregonians conducted by the Oregon Values & Beliefs Center on behalf of the Agora Journalism Center in November of 2024 indicates that while most Oregonians express a level of trust in local news, and over half are satisfied with the news organizations in their area, strong positive sentiment toward local media is limited. Dissatisfaction with local news is often rooted in perceived poor quality, bias, or simply the unavailability of local news.
- Interventions to bolster local news are gathering steam around the country, including the announcement of a $500 million philanthropic effort called Press Forward, which has awarded funding to three Oregon newsrooms thus far. Support is also growing for public policies designed to bolster local news, including measures to incentivize investments in newsrooms and keep them locally owned and finding ways to offset the dramatic loss of revenues brought about by the rise of big tech platforms. A combination of newsroom innovation, private and philanthropic support, and supportive public policy will be required to reverse the decline of local news in Oregon.
We hope this updated picture will contribute to efforts to reverse the decline and bolster the vitality of local news in Oregon.
NEXT » Foreword & Acknowledgements