The ''Columbia County Spotlight'', previously known as the ''Scappoose Spotlight'' and the ''South County Spotlight'', is a

weekly newspaper A weekly newspaper is a general-news or Current affairs (news format), current affairs publication that is issued once or twice a week in a wide variety broadsheet, magazine, and electronic publishing, digital formats. Similarly, a biweekly new ...

in Columbia County,

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 ...

, United States, established in 1961. The paper serves Scappoose and St. Helens, and covers communities along Highway 30 from Linnton and Sauvie Island to

Clatskanie Clatskanie is a city in Columbia County, Oregon, United States. It was named for the Tlatskanai Native American tribe, and the Clatskanie River which flows through the town and empties into the Columbia River about four miles to the north. The p ...

. The editorial staff is based in Scappoose, while some administration and creative services are based in

Milwaukie Milwaukie is a city mostly in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States; a very small portion of the city extends into Multnomah County. The population was 20,291 at the 2010 census. Founded in 1847 on the banks of the Willamette River, the city ...

at the headquarters of

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 owns the newspaper. The ''Spotlight'' is one of a number of community newspapers in the group, including the ''

Forest Grove News-Times The ''News-Times'' is a weekly newspaper covering the cities of Forest Grove and Hillsboro in the U.S. state of Oregon. Established in 1886 and with coverage focused on Forest Grove for most of its history, the paper only recently added equivalen ...

'' and the ''

Hillsboro Tribune The ''Hillsboro Tribune'' was a weekly newspaper that covered the city of Hillsboro in the U.S. state of Oregon and was published from 2012 to 2019. It was replaced in 2019 by a Hillsboro edition of the Forest Grove '' News-Times'', a sister publ ...

''. Reporter Tyler Graf won a first place award for feature business writing for a ''Spotlight'' article in 2012. Graf, who had recently come to the paper from the ''

Daily Journal of Commerce The ''Daily Journal of Commerce'' (DJC) is a U.S. newspaper published Monday, Wednesday and Friday in Portland, Oregon. It features business, construction, real estate, legal news and public notices. It is a member of American Court & Commercial ...

'', soon moved on to the nearby ''

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

''. The newspaper won four awards in the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association Better Newspaper Contest in 2015, including second place for best editorial, third place for best feature, second place for best graphics and first place for best sports photo. The ''Spotlight'' is a general member of the association. Its coverage has been cited by other newspapers in the area, including ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...

'', and it is part of the Northwest News Partnership, along with ''Daily Astorian'' and the

EO Media Group The EO Media Group is a newspaper publishing company based in the U.S. state of Oregon. It publishes 17 newspapers in the state and in southwestern Washington. History The company, which has been family-owned for four generations, was previous ...

. Darryl Swan, who had previously served as the paper's news editor, was appointed publisher in 2008 and remained in that role until 2020. In 2020, Nikki DeBuse was named publisher and Mark Miller, who reported for the Spotlight from 2013 to 2015, was named editor.

References

External links

Official website
{{Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association Newspapers published in Oregon Columbia County, Oregon 1961 establishments in Oregon Newspapers published by Pamplin Media Group Newspapers established in 1961