Pamplin Media Group
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Media |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Founder | Robert B. Pamplin, Jr. |
Area served | Portland metropolitan area |
| Owner | Carpenter Media Group |
Number of employees | 200 |
| Website | pamplinsubscribe |
The Pamplin Media Group (PMG) is a media conglomerate owned by Carpenter Media Group and operating primarily in the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Robert B. Pamplin, Jr. founded the company in 2001 and sold it to Carpenter in 2024.[1][2] As of 2019, the company owns 25 newspapers and employs 200 people.[3]
Each chain writes and edits its own stories and shares them with each other and several subscribers, including newspapers in Medford, Corvallis, and Albany.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
History
[edit]The Portland Tribune newspaper, founded by Pamplin in 2001, is the largest newspaper in the group. PMG also includes a group of newspapers formerly known as Community Newspapers, Incorporated, serving the Portland area. Most of them are published once a week. The company launched the Hillsboro Tribune in September 2012.[11]
As of 2009, it owned newspapers in Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, and Columbia counties.[12]
On January 8, 2013, it bought five newspapers from Eagle Newspapers, Inc. in the Portland area (Canby Herald, Wilsonville Spokesman, Molalla Pioneer, The Newberg Graphic, and the Woodburn Independent), along with The Madras Pioneer in Central Oregon.[13][14] In June 2013, it also purchased the Central Oregonian from Eagle.[15]
In 2014, Pamplin partnered with the EO Media Group, which publishes the East Oregonian and several other weekly and monthly publications in Oregon, to form the Oregon Capital Bureau and publish the Oregon Capital Insider newsletter. The partnership came as the number of reporters assigned to state capital bureaus nationwide was on the decline.[16]
In 2018, the newly-launched Salem Reporter joined the bureau, and its publisher, Les Zaitz, was assigned to lead its three reporters. The Salem Reporter left the cooperative in early 2020 and Zaitz left the operation. The Oregon Capital Bureau as of late winter 2020 includes just the EO Media Group and Pamplin.[17]
On July 19, 2022, digital editor Geoff Pursinger published a column announcing that Pamplin would no longer host online comments on the articles published to its websites starting Aug. 1.[18]
In April 2023, Pamplin launched YourOregonNews.com, which aggregates stories from all of its newspapers.[19] That same year in June Pamplin agreed to sell its 39,000-square-foot Milwaukie-area building headquarters to Clackamas County for $11 million.[20] In August, the Clackamas Review switched from weekly to monthly publication and was renamed to the Milwaukie Review. The Oregon City News switched to monthly publication as well.[21]
In December 2023, Pamplin announced its Gresham printing plant would close the following month and about two dozen employees would lose their jobs. Pamplin will shift production of its newspapers to The Columbian's plant in Vancouver, Washington.[22]
In June 2024, Pamplin was sold to Carpenter Media Group[1][2] Six weeks later an unknown number of employees were laid off, including longtime statehouse reporter Peter Wong.[23] That same month the Sherwood Gazette ceased publication.[24]
Newspapers
[edit]| State | Service area | Newspaper |
|---|---|---|
| Oregon | Beaverton | Beaverton Valley Times |
| Sellwood (Portland) | The Bee | |
| Canby | Canby Herald | |
| Prineville | Central Oregonian[25] | |
| Clackamas | Clackamas Review | |
| Estacada | Estacada News | |
| Forest Grove | Forest Grove News-Times | |
| Hillsboro | Hillsboro Tribune | |
| Lake Oswego | Lake Oswego Review | |
| Madras | The Madras Pioneer | |
| Molalla | Molalla Pioneer | |
| Newberg | The Newberg Graphic | |
| Oregon City | Oregon City News | |
| Gresham | The Outlook | |
| Portland | Portland Tribune | |
| Sandy | Sandy Post | |
| Scappoose | Columbia County Spotlight | |
| Southwest Portland | Southwest Community Connection | |
| Tigard/Tualatin/Sherwood | The Valley Times (Tigard/Tualatin) | |
| West Linn | West Linn Tidings | |
| Wilsonville | Wilsonville Spokesman | |
| Woodburn | Woodburn Independent | |
| Statewide | Business Tribune |
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Pamplin Media Group sells to Carpenter Media Group" (Press release). Editor & Publisher. June 3, 2024. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
- ^ a b Rogoway, Mike (June 3, 2024). "Pamplin Media, Portland Tribune's owner, sells to Carpenter Media". The Oregonian. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ Rogoway, Mike (September 19, 2019). "Pamplin Media cuts pay, hours amid media industry's continued troubles". The Oregonian. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
- ^ Hare, Kristen (September 24, 2018). "In Oregon, three news organizations are teaming up to cover state government". Poynter. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
- ^ Ingram, Mathew (September 26, 2018). "Zuckerberg's death grip on Instagram". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
- ^ "Salem Reporter joins 2 news groups to expand state reporting". Salem Reporter. September 24, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
- ^ "Media teams join forces to cover state government, politics". Portland Tribune. September 24, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
- ^ "Expanded state government reporting comes to Oregon". Blue Mountain Eagle. September 24, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
- ^ "EO Media Group, Pamplin launch Salem bureau for statehouse reporting". Capital Press. August 1, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
- ^ "Newsletter covering Oregon government debuts". Blue Mountain Eagle. February 23, 2015. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
- ^ Redden, Jim (September 5, 2012). "Survey: City hits home run". Hillsboro Tribune. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
- ^ Rafter, Michelle V. (January 31, 2009). "Good News for Small Papers". Oregon Business. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
- ^ "Pamplin Media Group acquires 6 weekly papers from Eagle Newspapers". The Oregonian. January 8, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
- ^ Giegerich, Andy (January 8, 2013). "Pamplin Media buys more papers". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
- ^ Giegerich, Andy (June 27, 2013). "Pamplin group buys Prineville's Central Oregonian paper". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
- ^ "Defying trend, newspaper companies launch new Salem bureau". Portland Tribune. August 7, 2014. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ "About Us". Oregon Capital Insider. Archived from the original on November 22, 2021. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
- ^ Pursinger, Geoff. "Column: Our comments are leaving; our commitment isn't". pamplinmedia.com. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
- ^ "Pamplin Media launches regional website – YourOregonNews.com". YourOregonNews.com. April 24, 2023. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
- ^ Redleman, Raymond (June 1, 2023). "Portland Tribune parent company Pamplin Media Group to sell Milwaukie-area headquarters to Clackamas County". The Bulletin. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
- ^ Monihan, J. Brian (June 28, 2023). "Changes happening to the Clackamas Review". MilwaukieReview.com. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
- ^ Jaquiss, Nigel (December 18, 2023). "Pamplin Media Group Will Shut Down Printing Press". Willamette Week. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ Kish, Matthew (July 17, 2024). "New owner of Portland Tribune, other Oregon newspapers lays off some staff". The Oregonian. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
- ^ DeBuse, Nikki (July 24, 2024). "Sherwood Gazette to cease publication". Sherwood Gazette. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
- ^ Pamplin Media Group (June 27, 2013). "Pamplin newspaper group buys Central Oregonian". Portland Tribune. Archived from the original on January 6, 2023. Retrieved January 6, 2023.