May 14, 2005
Behold The 'Clackamas County Tribune'?
Paper Suffers Yet Another Bizarre Blow
Yesterday, of course, was Friday the 13th, and the cockeyed news of the day was the news article press release published in the Portland Tribune under the byline of Pete Schulberg, the paper's media columnist.
Much-ballyhooed when it launched in 2001, the paper is moving, along with various other media outlets owned by Pamplin Communications, to... Clackamas County.
According to the newly-launched PDX Media Insider (which originally launched as PDX Media Watch), "Word on the street is that its reporters are not too happy."
If so, we're perfectly willing to keep everyone's names out of it if any of them are willing to tell us what they think about the move, although readers interested in such a thing should also keep watch on PDX Media Insider, since they claim, well, to be a media insider.
But, really, could the weirdness at the Tribune get any worse? Last year, the paper suffered layoffs, we openly mused whether it was going to become a crappy tabloid, and they abandoned their "color commentary" panel (if we recall correctly, because the person running it was amongst those laid off).
So, what's the general sense in the local blogopshere? Can the Portland Tribune keep itself intact if Pamplin keeps jerking it around?
Comments (6)
doretta on 15 May 2005
No, the Tribune is probably doomed. No doubt it has been operating in the red for its entire existence.
It's too bad, really, I enjoy reading it. If you made a list of the all-time worst former Oregonian columnists it would strongly resemble the staff list for the Tribune. Their reporters, on the other hand, have done nice work. The quality and consistency of their news and feature articles has been much better than I expected to see.
Despite the derision it gets in these parts, The Oregonian is a pretty good paper. Some of you need to get out more and see the schlock much of the rest of the nation is stuck with, including a lot of markets that are bigger than ours.
However, The Oregonian is structured as a regional newspaper. That may well be for sound economic reasons and it also may be good for the state as a whole. However, most newspapers in this country focus on a metro area, not a state and I think The Oregonian's broader focus does leave a gap that the Trib has done a pretty good job of filling.
Coyote on 15 May 2005
Folks on the inside of Portland Media knew since the beginning that the Pamplin thing just would not work out. Pamplin is all about playing safe.
I used to publish a community newspaper in North Portland back in the mid 90's and was in publication when a number of my publisher friends were selling or being courted by Dr. Pamplin.
I then spent some time working at the "O" and oh how painfull that was for a conservative to be inside the beast (oops, can I post here as a self proclaimed conservative? hehe, j/k). About three years ago Pamplin had this huge meeting with all of the publication employees. It was the annual meeting I think. There were a LOT of rumors going around at the time that they were going to lay people off.
Well Pamplin himself took the stage like he was Steve Jobs returning to Apple and going to save the day. He assured all that were present and the rest of the world for that matter, that they were there to stay... uh huh.
Then I heard that they dropped back on their door to door delivery (and from an ad agency perspective that was the ONLY thing they had going for them, since their content was milk toast), only to hear that they made a special door to door delivery this last winter in North Portland soliciting subscriptions. And those subscriptions actually were more expensive than the "O's". When my buddy in that neighborhood told me that I knew the end was drawing near.
I know some of the people that they hired to run their publication. They love to pretend that they are big time newspaper people, when in reality they are, what they would call in the radio industry "talent." And any that has ever had any dealings with "talent" will tell you that it is an oxymoron. To take it a step further "talent" will ALWAYS be a train wreck when it comes to business.
Sometimes I wish I were back in town. I would love the chance to eat the Trib's lunch. Although, I am sure if I did I would be very hungry come dinner time. Not much nutritional value in milk toast.
Jay R on 16 May 2005
This won't just hurt the Trib. KPAM will be out in Clackamas County, too, so when news breaks in town, they won't be there.
yoyoboy on 16 May 2005
Personally I think the tribune does a great job. We really need another voice in this town that is different from the Overgrownian.
yoyo
Yoram on 16 May 2005
I miss the big articles the Trib did when they started, with big interesting graphics and thoughtful work. Now I just read the gossip column, and that usually stinks too.
Oh, and Harriman.
activist kaza on 18 May 2005
Coyote: It's milquetoast, FYI...after a certain literary character I believe! But I otherwise agree that it is the mismanagement of the Trib that has left them struggling. It was never going to be easy going against the b'Oregonian's cozy monopoly, but there is/was an opening for a paper that did it right. Steve Clark, who has run local suburban papers for years, is a smart guy and may yet get a handle on the Trib and set it on course. The move to Clackamas probably affords him a much better chance to do so.
And Doretta, don't kid yourself. The b'O stinks and it always has. Their staff (sans one or two exceptions like Steve Duin) is inherently lazy and the paper has always lacked tone (both in terms of muscle and voice).