Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Portland Tribune ramping up?
Could it be that the Portland Tribune, the once-mighty challenger to The Oregonian (at least on Tuesdays and Fridays), could be gearing up for another assault?
In the Tuesday, October 24 edition, the paper included a letter from Steven Clark, Community Newspapers and Portland Tribune president, that, to the unknowing reader might sound like a re-commitment to the paper's purpose. Key points include (quoted from the letter):
Also worth noting: not one but two investigative/enterprise reporter positions open at the paper right now, as posted at JournalismJobs.com. These positions will be based at the Trib, but will "serve as a resource" to the other 16 Pamplin papers as well.
One caveat: Owner/Doctor/Reverend Robert Pamplin, Jr., has engaged in vigorous bloodletting in the past at his media properties, including KPAM 860 am (at one brief time the home of the largest radio newsroom on the West Coast), and the periodic purges at the Trib (Business section, we hardly knew ye....), including the downtown Portland editorial offices.
A final note: tip of the hat to Ellison Weist, who had the guts to tackle that massive Daniel Boone biography (I couldn't land the assignment at the competitor paper) by Robert Morgan, a review of which ran yesterday as a preview to tonight's reading at Powell's City of Books. Daniel Boone rules! Kit Carson drools!
[Semi-full disclosure: I've written for the Trib, and my spouse once worked at KPAM. Also, we both appeared on the cover back in 2005, which I may post if I go back and scan it in.]
In the Tuesday, October 24 edition, the paper included a letter from Steven Clark, Community Newspapers and Portland Tribune president, that, to the unknowing reader might sound like a re-commitment to the paper's purpose. Key points include (quoted from the letter):
And to its credit, the paper has gradually evolved into a Portland "community" paper rather than a seldom-published daily, albeit still the flagship enterprise. Combined with the 15 or so other properties in the Community Newspapers chain, you're generating content for a lot of neighborhoods. It will be interesting to see how Reuters content is folded in...does this mean that Trib content then goes to Reuters?
- The hiring of additional reporting, editing and photography staff.
- The hiring of a company executive editor to grow and improve local news coverage within our many newspapers.
- The expansion of our Web sites, including more local news, information services and the addition of Reuters national and international news coverage.
- Expansion of editorial and opinion pages.
- Enhancement of newspaper distribution.
- And expansion of partnerships between our many newspapers.
Also worth noting: not one but two investigative/enterprise reporter positions open at the paper right now, as posted at JournalismJobs.com. These positions will be based at the Trib, but will "serve as a resource" to the other 16 Pamplin papers as well.
One caveat: Owner/Doctor/Reverend Robert Pamplin, Jr., has engaged in vigorous bloodletting in the past at his media properties, including KPAM 860 am (at one brief time the home of the largest radio newsroom on the West Coast), and the periodic purges at the Trib (Business section, we hardly knew ye....), including the downtown Portland editorial offices.
A final note: tip of the hat to Ellison Weist, who had the guts to tackle that massive Daniel Boone biography (I couldn't land the assignment at the competitor paper) by Robert Morgan, a review of which ran yesterday as a preview to tonight's reading at Powell's City of Books. Daniel Boone rules! Kit Carson drools!
[Semi-full disclosure: I've written for the Trib, and my spouse once worked at KPAM. Also, we both appeared on the cover back in 2005, which I may post if I go back and scan it in.]
Labels: journalism, newspapers, Portland, Portland Tribune
