Portland News Review

Two Oregon papers sold to St. Louis newspaper exec

Andrew Polin, 51, of St. Louis has purchased two newspapers, the Tri-County News and West Lane News, from Mike and Sandy Thoele of Cheshire, Oregon. The two weekly newspapers serve communities in Lane County, Oregon. The Tri-County News serves the communities of Junction City, Harrisburg, Monroe, Coburg, Cheshire, Alvadore and Triangle Lake. The West Lane News serves the communities of Veneta, Elmira, Crow, Noti, Lorane, Walton, Alvadore, Blachly, Triangle Lake and Deadwood.

From Editor & Publisher magazine:

Terms of the deal, brokered by W.B. Grimes & Co., were not disclosed.

Polin has served as the CEO of the St. Louis Jewish Light and also worked on weekly and daily papers in Little Rock, Ark., Stuttgart, Ark., Boca Raton, Fla., Deerfield Park, Fla., and Miami.

Serif Publishing Company, the parent of the two papers, is based in Junction City, Oregon, with a satellite office in Veneta. According to the company website, Serif Publishing was founded by Mike and Sandy Thoele in 1999 when they acquired the two papers. Serif has a dozen employees and provides the largest newspaper journalism internship program in Oregon, typically hosting up to 15 undergraduate and graduate students through a relationship with the University of Oregon School of Journalism.

Source Links:
Two Oregon Papers Sold to Andrew Polin | E&P
News has new owner | Tri-County News
Serif Publishing Company

Must-see series on state of news and journalism

FRONTLINE's News War series is the most important television production on journalism in at least a decade. The companion website, where you can watch the entire series, is an invaluable resource that stands on its own with more than fifty interviews covering what major players in the debates are saying about the role of media in U.S. society - and what's ahead.

The four part series breaks down as follows:

Part I - Secrets, Sources and Spin
A look at the unintended consequences of the Valerie Plame investigation, a confusing affair that ultimately damaged both reporters' reputations and the legal protections they thought they enjoyed.

Part II - Secrets, Sources and Spin (cont'd)
Examines recent First Amendment battles between the federal government and the press -- how much can the press reveal about secret government programs in the war on terror without jeopardizing national security?

Part III - What's Happening to the News
Changing times, new audiences, pressures for profits, and the Internet revolution are upending mainstream media's old values and business models. Can anyone predict the future for news and in-depth reporting?

Part IV - War of Ideas
FRONTLINE/World reporter Greg Barker travels to the Middle East to examine the rise of Arab satellite TV channels and their impact on the "war of ideas" at a time of convulsive change and conflict in the region. His report focuses on the growing influence of Al Jazeera, and the controversy around the recent launch of Al Jazeera English, which U.S. satellite and cable companies have declined to carry. Barker also visits the "war room" of the State Department's Rapid Response Unit, which monitors Arab media 24 hours a day, and meets with U.S. military officers whose mission is to engage the Arab news channels in debate.

Requiem
At a time when fair and accurate news coverage is more essential than ever, 2006 marked one of the deadliest years on record for journalists. Surprisingly, despite the fierce fighting in Iraq, most of the slain journalists did not die in combat. They were deliberately targeted, hunted down, and murdered for investigating corruption, crime, or human rights abuses in countries around the world. In Requiem, FRONTLINE/World essayist Sheila Coronel looks at the dangers journalists confront as they try to tell their stories and pays special tribute to reporters working in the Philippines, Russia, Turkey, Zimbabwe, China and Iraq who have been killed, jailed, or exiled for daring to speak truth to power.

Please do yourself and society a favor and watch this important series.

NEWS WAR: Stories from a Small Planet - PBS FRONTLINE

The death and life of the American newspaper

It seems that everywhere I turn these days I'm finding a conversation, article, documentary or blog post about the state of the American newspaper. As someone who grew up wanting to be a newspaperman, this is all very near and dear to my heart.

The latest article I've come across is in the last New Yorker magazine. It's an almost 7,000-word beauty that is definitely worth the read.

Here's a little something to get you started:

The American newspaper has been around for approximately three hundred years. Benjamin Harris’s spirited Publick Occurrences, Both Forreign and Domestick managed just one issue, in 1690, before the Massachusetts authorities closed it down. Harris had suggested a politically incorrect hard line on Indian removal and shocked local sensibilities by reporting that the King of France had been taking liberties with the Prince’s wife...

Read it and then come back and tell us what you think.

Out of Print  |  The New Yorker