Current Events: Journalism in Oregon (update)

News media is so fundamental for keeping governments accountable to the people, press freedom is enshrined in the very first of the amendments to the US Constitution. Numerous Supreme Court rulings like Near v. Minnesota (1931) and New York Times Co. vs. United States (1971) have confirmed the importance of the rights of journalists to both investigate and publish.

Before the first newspapers were printed in Oregon, one of the ways news spread was orally at trading posts and key fishing locations via Chinuk Wawa or Chinook Jargon, the lingua franca of commerce and information exchange between speakers of native and European languages. The first print newspaper emerged in 1846. This Oregon Spectator was soon followed by the 1850 birth of The Oregonian, which is still the oldest newspaper in continuous production on the west coast. In the last two decades, the U.S. has lost almost two-thirds of its newspaper journalists and, currently, one in 5 Americans live in news deserts, lacking a community-based news source. Rural newspapers are often the first to be closed. In Oregon, 164 cities and 2 whole counties have no community news outlet, according to the Fund for Oregon Rural Journalism.

In reaction to the steady closures of news outlets and the failing of the traditional competitive model, news outlets are trying collaborative journalism. A number of non-profit foundations have sprung up to fundraise their way to maintaining quality news coverage, hoping charitable donors can rescue traditional papers. Other papers, like the award-winning Eastern Oregon’s Malheur Enterprise, continue to survive on their own. In some areas hyper-local and/or issue-specific publications have emerged, like the Yachats News and Columbia Insight. Oregon Public Broadcasting provides news and long form journalism on statewide issues via radio and podcasts. According to the National Federation of Community Broadcasters member map, Oregon has quite a number of community radio stations, elevating local voices and stories. Finally, in the fall of 2024, the Oregon Journalism Project launched a ‘civic newsroom’ model called to provide Oregon news outlets free “deeply reported watchdog journalism” on state and local government, as well as federal issues that affect Oregon.

This week’s current event updates our 2023 coverage of local newspaper closures and focuses on Oregon’s news media landscape.

Essential Questions:

Essential Question #1 What is the role of the press in a democratic society?
Essential Question #2 How have technological innovations impacted how the news is reported?
Essential Question #3 What could increase the public trust in the media?
Essential Question #4 What are the dangers of a populace that avoids the news?
Essential Question #5 In your opinion, what are the best and worst aspects of news media?
Essential Question #6 What should we do as a society to improve our understanding of current events?

Vocabulary:

Media: the main ways that large numbers of people receive information
Journalism: is the practice of gathering, recording, verifying, and reporting on information of public importance.
The Press: newspapers, magazines, radio and television news reports and the people who work for them
News Avoidance: low news consumption over a continuous period of time caused either by a dislike for news (intentional) or a higher preference for other content (unintentional)
News desert: a community, either rural or urban, with limited access to the sort of credible and comprehensive news and information that feeds democracy at the grassroots level
Collaborative Journalism: where multiple news organizations or individuals work together to create, publish, and distribute news stories.