Editorial: The Bulletin is hurting, but we don’t plan to scatter

The Bend Bulletin was born in 1903, before Bend was a city. It was a four-page, five-column weekly. “Our first aim and object shall be to publish such news of local and general character as will be of interest to our readers, paying especial attention to such matters as may record a step taken in the direction of this magnificent country’s development,” a salutatory editorial said on March 27, 1903.

It’s an honor to carry on that tradition and tell your stories. We strive to continue for another 100-plus years.

Not for the first time in The Bulletin’s history, though, the newspaper is in trouble. Though its not the case here, newspapers do die. There have been thousands of examples of that across the country. It’s mass extinction. There are many counties in Oregon where there is no regular coverage of the peaks and valleys of residents and whatever the government is up to.

The Bulletin and other papers of EO Media Group aren’t immune to the same pressures. We are trying to adapt. The recent layoffs hurt the most. Pay cuts really sting when they cut into a journalist’s already meagre salary. Some of you have shared with us you didn’t like it when we switched home delivery to mail delivery. You long for the thump on the driveway and the print newspaper to go with your morning coffee — for it to be that Bulletin again. But the business model had to be revised to fit the modern financial reality.

What went wrong?

The recent, immediate damage was done by a burst in health care costs and increased premiums. The movement of advertising away from newspapers has been a more persistent wounding.

EO Media Group and members of this community joined together in 2019 to save The Bulletin and other local Oregon journalism. They did not buy the paper to scoop out cash. And they didn’t do that. The owner of the company drives a Kia.

The future is likely a sale of the company. The ownership are only looking to sell to an entity that shares their values for local journalism. It may be a nonprofit. Subscribers and advertisers who recognize the special value of our audience are what carry us on.

There is no promise of permanence for any business. But we don’t want so many important stories to go untold. We want to tell truths about the pressure points of growth, the struggles with affordability, the faces of the homeless and so many more.

We don’t plan to scatter. With your help, we will stick.

Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at The Bulletin, www.bendbulletin.com/subscribe-now.

Editorials reflect the views of The Bulletin’s editorial board: Publisher Heidi Wright; Editor Jody Lawrence-Turner; Editor Tim Trainor and Editorial Page Editor Richard Coe. They are written by Richard Coe. Contact: [email protected]

View the original editorial here.

— Used with permission of the Bend Bulletin