Establishment One year prior to the incorporation of the tiny town of Portland, Oregon, in 1851, prospective leaders of the new community determined to establish a local newspaper—an institution which was seen as a prerequisite for urban growth. Chief among these pioneer community organizers seeking establishment of a Portland press were Col. W.W. Chapman and prominent local businessman
Henry W. Corbett. Each weekly issue consisted of four pages, printed six columns wide. Pittock's goal was to focus more on news than the
bully pulpit established by Dryer. He ordered a new press in December 1860 and also arranged for the news to be sent by telegraph to
Redding, California, then by stagecoach to
Jacksonville, Oregon, and then by
pony express to Portland.
Henry W. Corbett bought the paper from a cash-poor Pittock in October 1872 and placed
William Lair Hill as editor.
1880s–1890s One of the journalists who began his career on
The Oregonian during this time period was
James J. Montague who took over and wrote the column "Slings & Arrows" until he was hired away by
William Randolph Hearst in 1902. In this time period Governor
Sylvester Pennoyer prominently criticized the
Oregonian for calling for vigilante "justice" against Chinese Americans (Pennoyer favored running people of Chinese descent out of the state by "legal" means). The
West Shore criticized the
Oregonian for its sensationalized coverage of the English monarchy.
Sunday Oregonian In 1881, the first
Sunday Oregonian was published. The paper became known as the voice of business-oriented Republicans, as evidenced by consistent endorsement of
Republican candidates for
president in every federal election before 1992.
New location of 1892 was the paper's home until 1948. It was demolished in 1950. The paper's offices and presses were originally housed in a two-story building at the intersection of First Street (now First Avenue) and Morrison Street, but in 1892 the paper moved into a new nine-story building at 6th and Alder streets. to 196 feet (around 59 m) made it the tallest structure in Portland, a distinction it retained until the completion of the
Yeon Building in 1911.
1900s–1940s Following the death of Harvey Scott in 1910, the paper's editor-in-chief was Edgar B. Piper, who had previously been managing editor. Piper remained editor until his death in 1928. The Oregonian's first female journalist,
Louise Bryant, joined the paper around 1909.
The Morning Oregonian and KGW In 1922, the
Oregonian discontinued its weekly edition, and launched
KGW, Oregon's first commercial radio station. Five years later, KGW affiliated with
NBC (1927). The newspaper purchased a second station,
KEX, in 1933, from NBC
subsidiary Northwest Broadcasting Co. In 1944, KEX was sold to
Westinghouse Radio Stations, Inc.
The Oregonian launched KGW-FM, the Northwest's first FM station, in 1946 (acclaimed by "The Oregonian" May 8, 1946), known today as
KKRZ. KGW and KGW-FM were sold to King Broadcasting Co in 1953. In 1937,
The Morning Oregonian shortened its name to
The Oregonian. Two years later, associate editor Ronald G. Callvert received a
Pulitzer Prize for
editorial reporting for "distinguished editorial writing...as exemplified by the editorial entitled "
My Country 'Tis of Thee". A 20-year trust under which the
Oregonian was conducted expired in 1939. O. L. Price, who managed the newspaper under the trust, retired at age 61 upon its expiration. Ownership reverted to the heirs of Pittock and H. W. Scott.
Move in 1948 In 1948, the paper moved to a new location within downtown, where its headquarters ultimately would remain for the next 66 years, on SW Broadway between Jefferson Street and Columbia Street. The new building was designed by
Pietro Belluschi and again was named the Oregonian Building. At that time, the sale price of $5.6 million was the largest for a single newspaper. The sale was announced on December 11, 1950. In 1957, staff writers
William Lambert and
Wallace Turner were awarded
that year's Pulitzer Prize for
Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting - No Edition time. Their prize cited "their expose of vice and
corruption in Portland involving some municipal officials and officers of the
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Western Conference" and noted that "they fulfilled their assignments despite great handicaps and the risk of reprisal from lawless elements." In 1961, Newhouse bought
The Oregon Journal, Portland's afternoon daily newspaper. Production and business operations of the two newspapers were consolidated in
The Oregonian building, while their editorial staffs remained separate. The
National Labor Relations Board ruled the strike illegal in November 1963. As part of a larger corporate plan to exit broadcasting,
The Oregonian sold KOIN-TV to newspaper owner
Lee Enterprises in 1977. At the same time, KOIN-AM and -FM were sold to Gaylord Broadcasting Co. Since S. I. Newhouse died in 1979,
S.I. Jr. has managed the
magazines, and
Donald oversees the newspapers.
The Oregonian lost its primary "competitor" and Portland became a one-daily-newspaper city in 1982, when Advance/Newhouse shut down the
Journal, citing declining
advertising revenues.
1985 The Oregonian published a twenty-part series on the
Rajneeshpuram, a religious community that established itself in
Antelope, Oregon.
Late 1980s Hilliard era William A. Hilliard was named editor in 1987, and was the paper's first
African-American editor. A resident of Oregon since the age of 8, Hilliard had already worked at
The Oregonian for 35 years; he had been
city editor starting in 1971 and executive editor since 1982.
1989 The Oregonian established an Asia bureau in
Tokyo, Japan in 1989. Also in 1989,
The Oregonian endorsed a
Democratic candidate for president for the first time in its history when it supported
Bill Clinton in 1992.
1990s The year 1993 was an eventful year for
The Oregonian. Robert M. Landauer, then editorial page editor, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Writing for "a bold campaign to defuse myths and prejudice promoted by an anti-homosexual constitutional amendment, which was subsequently defeated", according to the Pulitzer judges. The integrity of
The Oregonian became the subject of national coverage when
The Washington Post broke the story of inappropriate sexual advances which led to the resignation of Oregon
senator Bob Packwood four years later. This prompted some to joke, "If it matters to Oregonians, it's in the
Washington Post" (a twist on the
Oregonian slogan "If it matters to Oregonians, it's in
The Oregonian). Finally, Newhouse appointed a new editor for the paper,
Sandra Rowe, who relocated from
The Virginian-Pilot.
Rowe era Sandra Rowe joined the paper as executive editor in June 1993. She formally became editor in 1994 with the retirement of William Hilliard, but Hilliard had effectively already given her control of the editor's reins in 1993 as he focused his attention on his duties as the newly elected president of the
American Society of Newspaper Editors for 1993–94, in his final year before retirement. Accompanying the reorganization was a more bottom-up approach to identifying stories: "instead of having an
assignment-driven newspaper, you have the beat reporters coming to editors with what is going on", with the team editors responsible for deciding what stories were covered by their teams. Michele McLellan assumed the role three years later, and was delegated the authority to decide whether or not a newspaper error should result in the publication of a correction.
Pulitzer Prize Staff writer
Richard Read won the 1999
Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting, for a series, "The French Fry Connection". The articles illustrated the impact of the
1997 Asian financial crisis by following a case of
french fries from a Washington-state farm to a McDonald's in Singapore, ending in Indonesia during riots that led to the
Fall of Suharto. The newsroom celebrated
The Oregonian first Pulitzer in 42 years with champagne, McDonald's french fries and a brass band. The series also received the
Overseas Press Club award for best business reporting from abroad, the Scripps Howard Foundation award for business reporting and the Blethen award for enterprise reporting. Co-worker Tom Hallman Jr. was a finalist for the 1999 Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing, for his "unique profile of a man struggling to recover from a brain injury". Reporter Mark O'Keefe won an Overseas Press Club award for human rights reporting. The editors of
Columbia Journalism Review recognized
The Oregonian as number twelve on its list of "America's Best Newspapers", and the best newspaper owned by the Newhouse family.
2000s In 2000,
The Oregonian was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting for its coverage of an environmental disaster created when the
New Carissa, a freighter that carried nearly 400,000 gallons of heavy fuel, ran aground February 4, 1999, north of
Coos Bay, Oregon. The articles detailed "how fumbling efforts of official agencies failed to contain the far-reaching damage", according to the Pulitzer jury. That same year reporters Brent Walth and Alex Pulaski were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Writing for their series on political influences in pesticide regulation.
Pulitzer Prize for Public Service The Oregonian and news staff were acknowledged with two Pulitzer Prizes in 2001. The paper was awarded the
Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, for its "detailed and unflinching examination of systematic problems within the U.S.
Immigration and Naturalization Service, including harsh treatment of foreign nationals and other widespread abuses, which prompted various reforms." The series was reported and written by Kim Christensen,
Richard Read, Julie Sullivan-Springhetti and Brent Walth, for his series, "The Boy Behind the Mask", on a teen with a facial deformity. In 2003, music critic
David Stabler was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing for "his sensitive, sometimes surprising chronicle of a teenage prodigy's struggle with a musical talent that proved to be both a gift and a problem". Michael Arrieta-Walden became public editor in 2003; when he ended his three-year term in the position, no successor was named.
2004 criticism In 2004 the paper faced criticism after a headline characterized a 1970s sexual relationship between then-mayor
Neil Goldschmidt and a 14-year-old girl as an "
affair", rather than
statutory rape. The paper endorsed a Democrat for president for the second time in its 150-year history when it backed
John Kerry for president in 2004. Editorial writers Doug Bates and
Rick Attig were awarded the 2006
Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing for their editorials on the conditions at the
Oregon State Hospital. As of late 2006 and early 2007, the paper's circulation averaged 319,625 for the daily edition and 375,913 for the Sunday edition, giving
The Oregonian the 22nd-largest circulation among all major newspapers in the U.S.
2007 In 2007,
The Oregonian and its journalists were recognized with several awards. Sports columnist
John Canzano was selected as the nation's No. 2 sports columnist in the annual
Associated Press Sports Editors Awards. Three
Oregonian reporters—
Jeff Kosseff,
Bryan Denson, and
Les Zaitz—were awarded the
George Polk Award for national reporting, for their series about the failure of a decades-old, multibillion-dollar, federal program established by the
Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act intended to help people with severe disabilities find employment. Instead it "awarded executives handsomely but left disabled workers in segregated jobs often paying less than minimum wage." On April 16, 2007, it was announced that the staff of
The Oregonian was awarded a
Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting for their "skillful and tenacious coverage of a
family missing in the
Oregon mountains, telling the tragic story both in print and online." In addition, the paper's reporters were finalists in two other categories. Les Zaitz, Jeff Kosseff and Bryan Denson were finalists for the Pulitzer for National Reporting for the same series that also won the George Polk Award noted above. Inara Verzemnieks was nominated for the Pulitzer for Feature Writing for "her witty and perceptive portfolio of features on an array of everyday topics", according to the Pulitzer judges.
2008 In February 2008,
Editor & Publisher named editor Sandra Mims Rowe and executive editor
Peter Bhatia as "Editors of the Year". The
trade journal noted that since Rowe and Bhatia arrived in 1993, the paper and its journalists had won five Pulitzer Prizes and had been finalists a further nine times. two weeks after
The New York Times,
The Charlotte Observer and
The Miami Herald had done the same thing.
The Oregonian did so despite Portland mayor
Tom Potter's personal request that publisher Fred Stickel not distribute it because the "tenor of the video contributes towards a climate of distrust towards Muslims", and because the paper's willingness to distribute the DVD bestows upon it "an impression of objectivity and legitimacy it does not deserve."
Nigel Jaquiss of
Willamette Week broke the story after 18 months of investigations; Jaquiss's reporting on another sex scandal involving
Neil Goldschmidt earned Jaquiss a
2005 Pulitzer Prize. Jaquiss thinks
The Oregonian's failure to follow up on leads that both he and
Oregonian reporters had received was a case of "one-newspaper towns being a little too cozy with local
power brokers." In September 2009, publisher Fred Stickel announced his retirement, effective September 18, ending 34 years in the position; his son Patrick, president of the paper, was appointed interim publisher but was not a candidate to succeed his father, N. Christian Anderson III was named as the new publisher in October, and began work in the position at the beginning of November 2009. After more than 16 years as editor,
Sandra Rowe retired at the end of 2009. Peter Bhatia, then executive editor, succeeded her as editor. Unlike "TV Click",
TV Weekly requires a separate subscription fee;
The Oregonian is following the example of the
Houston Chronicle and other major newspapers and switching to "some form of 'opt in and pay' TV sections (rather than dropping the sections) and have found only about 10 percent to 20 percent of subscribers use the sections." Two new companies would be formed: the Oregonian Media Group, which will focus on providing content on its online news site,
OregonLive.com though it would continue to publish a daily print edition of the paper; and Advance Central Services Oregon, which would provide production, packaging, and distribution support for the new company. Ownership remained with
Advance Publications. Though printed seven days a week, home delivery has been reduced to Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. These changes were put into effect, as scheduled, on October 1. The paper also announced that "significant" layoffs were expected.
2014–2015 neighborhood west of downtown, closed in 2015 after the paper's printing was outsourced. The smaller of the complex's two buildings (pictured) was demolished in late 2018. On April 2, 2014, the paper switched from
broadsheet format to the smaller
tabloid format. On April 14, 2014, it was announced that the paper's editorial staff—consisting of Mark Hester, Erik Lukens, Susan Nielsen, and Len Reed—had won the 2014
Pulitzer Prize for
Editorial Writing, for their coverage of the state of Oregon's public employee retirement system. Reporter Les Zaitz was named as a finalist for
Explanatory Reporting for his work on Mexican drug cartels. Also in July 2014, the newspaper moved its headquarters from the building at 1320 SW Broadway that it had occupied since 1948 to a smaller space elsewhere in downtown Portland. The new headquarters takes up around of space in the Crown Plaza office building, at 1500 SW First Avenue. N. Christian Anderson left the Oregonian Media Group in May 2015, to become editor and publisher of
The Register-Guard, in
Eugene, Oregon. Anderson became publisher of
The Oregonian in 2009, subsequently being named president of the Oregonian Media Group when that new company replaced the Oregonian Publishing Company in October 2013, with the title of
publisher thereafter no longer being used, and in turn was appointed to the new position of chairman of the group in September 2014. and the chairman position was to go unfilled. Layoffs of printing-press workers were due to be implemented in August. now known as the Press Blocks. Demolition of the former printing complex began in fall 2018.
2016 Moss announced in July 2016 that he would depart at the end of August. In the article about Moss's impending departure, it was disclosed that the newspaper's Sunday circulation was at that time approximately 170,000.
2018 Editor Mark Katches left the company in August 2018, to become editor of the
Tampa Bay Times, owned by the non-profit Poynter Institute for Media Studies. Therese Bottomly, who had worked
The Oregonian since 1983, was named editor and vice president of content in September 2018.
2020s Comments section elimination On January 2, 2020,
The Oregonian eliminated the comments section of Oregonlive.com. The paper said it was following the trend of other papers in the past decade and said most readers don't utilize the comments feature. The paper also said uncivil comments were taking up too many resources to moderate.
Paywall In mid-June 2020, the paper started rolling out stories tagged "Exclusive", marking the announcement of upcoming paywall. These "exclusive" contents, usually front-page stories, were made subscribers-only partway through July and starting on July 27, 2020, it has been switched over to
paywall and restricted to paid subscribers only.
Print edition In August 2023,
The Oregonian announced that the printed version of the paper will be offered only on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, effective January 1, 2024. It will continue publishing daily news online. The change went into effect in mid-January 2025. ==Targeted publications==