The EO Media Group is a newspaper publishing company based in the U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. It publishes 17 newspapers in the state and in southwestern

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

History

The company, which has been family-owned for four generations, was previously known as the East Oregonian Publishing Company. It is owned by the Aldrich and Forrester families, members of which previously owned several newspapers (including the ''

East Oregonian The ''East Oregonian'' (''EO'') is a daily newspaper published in Pendleton, Oregon, United States and covering Umatilla and Morrow counties. The ''EO'' was the first-place winner of the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association General Excellence ...

'' and ''

The Daily Astorian ''The Astorian'', formerly known as ''The Daily Astorian'', is a newspaper, published in Astoria, Oregon, United States, established in 1873,

'') independently. The connection between the ''East Oregonian'' and ''The Daily Astorian'' dates to 1909, when several ''East Oregonian'' staffers bought the ''Astoria Budget'', which was later merged with the ''Astorian''. In 1973, the father and son (J. W. Forrester, Jr. and Michael A. Forrester) who had been publishing the ''East Oregonian'' and the ''Daily Astorian'' switched positions. The company acquired the '' Blue Mountain Eagle'' in 1979, the ''

Chinook Observer The Chinook Observer is a weekly newspaper serving the Long Beach Peninsula of Washington state. History The newspaper is named after Chinook, Washington, where the paper was founded in 1900 by George Hibbert and Frank Gaither. Hibbert sold the ...

'' in 1988, the ''

Capital Press ''The Capital Press'' is a weekly agricultural newspaper covering the West Coast of the United States, and published in Salem, Oregon. The newspaper covers farming, ranching and agriculture industries in the Pacific Northwest. The newspaper is ow ...

'' in 1991, '' The Hermiston Herald'' in 2008, and ''

Seaside Signal The ''Seaside Signal'' is a weekly newspaper published for the community of Seaside, Oregon, United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily ...

in 2003.'' In 2014, the EO Media Group partnered with the

Pamplin Media Group The Pamplin Media Group (PMG) is a media conglomerate owned by Robert B. Pamplin, Jr. and operating primarily in the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of 2019, the company owns 25 newspapers and employs 200 people. His ...

, which publishes the ''

Portland Tribune The ''Portland Tribune'' is a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is part of the Pamplin Media Group, which publishes a number of community newspapers in the Portland metropolitan area. Launched in ...

'' and 24 other weekly and monthly publications in Oregon, to form the

Oregon Capital Bureau The Oregon Capital Bureau is a joint effort of two family-owned news publishers to improve news coverage of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. The bureau was launched in 2014 by the Pamplin Media Group, which owns 25 newspapers in the Port ...

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. In 2018, the newly-launched ''

Salem Reporter Salem Reporter is a digital news service based in Salem, Oregon. It was launched in September 2018 by longtime investigative journalist Les Zaitz, with investment from businessman Larry Tokarski, president of a real estate development firm. Its p ...

'' joined the bureau, and its publisher, Les Zaitz, was assigned to lead its three reporters. As of spring 2020, the ''Salem Reporter'' and Zaitz are no longer part of the Oregon Capital Bureau . The Aldrich-Forrester-Bedford-Brown family, which owns the EO Media Group, was covered in the 2018 book ''Grit and Ink: An Oregon Family's Adventures in Newspapering, 1908–2018'' by William F. Willingham. The book was published by the EO Media Group; but according to the author, it isn't an "authorized biography," and he had "wide open" ground rules. The book was to be distributed by the Oregon State University Press. In 2019, EO Media Group acquired the ''

Baker City Herald The ''Baker City Herald'' is a tri-weekly paper published in Baker City, Oregon, United States, since 1870. It is published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays by EO Media Group and has a circulation of 2,304. History The ''Herald'' was established ...

'', ''

The Observer (La Grande) ''The Observer'', established in 1896, is a newspaper that serves Union and Wallowa counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. Its headquarters are in La Grande, the seat of Union County. ''The Observer'' circulates Monday, Wednesday and Friday aftern ...

'', ''

The Bulletin (Bend) ''The Bulletin'' is the daily newspaper of Bend, Oregon, United States. ''The Bulletin'' is owned by EO Media Group, which prior to January 2013 was named the East Oregonian Publishing Company. Over the years, a number of well-known journalists h ...

'' and ''

The Redmond Spokesman ''The Redmond Spokesman'' is a weekly newspaper published in Redmond, Oregon, United States. It serves the city of Redmond and neighboring communities in northern Deschutes County, focusing on local news and events. It has a circulation of about ...

'' from ''

Western Communications Western Communications, Inc. was an American newspaper publisher serving the states of Oregon and California. The family-owned company was based in Bend, Oregon and was founded by Robert W. Chandler. Its flagship paper was '' The Bulletin''. Chan ...

''.

Formerly owned publications

* The ''North Coast Citizen'' in

Manzanita Manzanita is a common name for many species of the genus ''Arctostaphylos''. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees present in the chaparral biome of western North America, where they occur from Southern British Columbia and Washington to Or ...

was purchased in 2007 and sold in 2011 to Country Media Inc. * ''Oregon Coast TODAY'' in Lincoln City was purchased in 2012 and sold in July 2020 to Patrick Alexander, who worked as the publication's editor and publisher.

Awards

The group won a top regional award for its "Fate of Our Forests" series from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2012, in a regional group including papers under 25,000 circulation from Montana to Alaska. The same series, which ran in 2011, had previously won the Dolly Connelly Award for Excellence in Environmental Reporting from the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Association.

History

Formerly owned publications

Awards

Newspapers

References

External links