''The Register-Guard'' is a daily
newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
in the
northwestern United States
The Northwestern United States, also known as the American Northwest or simply the Northwest, is an informal geographic region of the United States. The region consistently includes the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. ...
, published in
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.
As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...
. It was formed in a 1930 merger of two Eugene papers, the ''Eugene Daily Guard'' and the ''Morning Register''. The paper serves the Eugene-
Springfield
Springfield may refer to:
* Springfield (toponym), the place name in general
Places and locations Australia
* Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast)
* Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council)
* Springfield, Queenslan ...
area, as well as the
Oregon Coast
The Oregon Coast is a coastal region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to its west and the Oregon Coast Range to the east, and stretches approximately from the California state border in the south to the Columbia ...
,
Umpqua River
The Umpqua River ( ) on the Pacific coast of Oregon in the United States is approximately long. One of the principal rivers of the Oregon Coast and known for bass and shad, the river drains an expansive network of valleys in the mountains west ...
valley, and surrounding areas. As of 2016, it has a circulation of around 43,000 Monday through Friday, around 47,000 on Saturday, and a little under 50,000 on Sunday.
The newspaper has been owned by
The Gannett Company since Gannett's 2019 merger with
GateHouse Media. It had been sold to GateHouse in 2018.
From 1927 to 2018, it was owned by the Baker family of Eugene, and members of the family served as both editor and publisher for nearly all of that time period. It is Oregon's second-largest daily newspaper and, until its 2018 sale to GateHouse, was one of the few medium-sized family newspapers left in the United States.
History of ''The Guard''
Establishment
''The Guard'' was launched in 1867 in
Eugene City on Saturday, June 1, by John B. Alexander, and has been continuously published since October 24.
The paper began as a weekly organ expressing allegiance to the states' rights-oriented
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
and it joined an existing
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
paper in the field, the ''Oregon State Journal,'' published by Harrison R. Kincaid.
Founding publisher Alexander was born about 1830 and came to Oregon from
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
as a pioneer in 1852. Alexander initially worked as a farmer, supplementing his income as a
surveyor
Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...
and local
justice of the peace
A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...
before learning the printing trade working for the town's earlier
pro-Southern newspapers. Although his own venture as a publisher was short and unprofitable, Alexander unwittingly was the scion of a local newspaper dynasty in Oregon, with two of his sons later themselves publishing ''The Guard'' (following the tenure of several intermediate owners), while a grandson, George L. Alexander, would one day edit another Oregon paper, the ''
Lebanon Express
The ''Lebanon Express'' is a weekly newspaper of Lebanon, Oregon, United States. It is owned by Lee Enterprises.
Founded on March 5, 1887, the paper is published every Wednesday. The ''Lebanon Express'' serves the city of Lebanon. The ''Albany De ...
.''
Alexander and his paper vocally supported the old governing class of the former
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...
and were rabid in their opposition to the policies of
Reconstruction
Reconstruction may refer to:
Politics, history, and sociology
*Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company
*'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...
imposed upon the South by the Northern-based Republican Party. Such views were out of step with the majority of Oregonians, however, with the Republicans coming to dominate Oregon politics during the last quarter of the 19th century. Alexander was forced to liquidate his stake in his money-losing newspaper in 1868.
Ownership changes
A short interregnum followed, during which ownership was transferred to J.W. Skaggs. Skaggs continued to push Alexander's Democratic Party/states' rights agenda during his short five weeks at the helm. The poor economics of the weekly paper were unchanged, however, and Skaggs immediately moved to unload his newly acquired white elephant. He cut his losses and avoided the stigma of financial failure for himself and the conservative political movement by giving away the paper outright to two men who worked for him as printers,
William Thompson and William Victor. According to Thompson's later recollection, Skaggs sweetened the transfer of ownership by tossing in two bundles of paper and two
cords of firewood for the new owners.
The leading partner in the new ownership pair, William Thompson (1846–1934), had come to Oregon from his native
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
aboard a wagon train during the 1850s and had worked as a
printer's devil
A printer's devil was a young apprentice in a printing establishment who performed a number of tasks, such as mixing tubs of ink and fetching type. Notable writers including Ambrose Bierce, Benjamin Franklin, Walt Whitman, and Mark Twain served ...
for the Democratic Eugene City newspapers the ''Democratic Register'' and ''The Review'' from the age of 16. His acquisition of ''The Guard'' required only that he fulfill a contractual obligation "to run the paper and keep it alive." This he and Victor managed to do successfully, earning Thompson a healthy $1,200 for his work before his sale of the paper to George J. Buys and A. Eltzroth on December 24, 1869. Thompson would subsequently move to
Roseburg, Oregon
Roseburg is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is in the Umpqua River, Umpqua River Valley in southern Oregon and is the county seat and most populous city of Douglas County, Oregon, Douglas County. Founded in 1851, the population was 23,683 a ...
, and there establish a new newspaper, the Roseburg ''Plaindealer.''
George J. Buys bought out his business partner Eltzroth in July 1870 and subsequently remained solely at the publisher's desk for more than seven years. He continued to battle for the Democratic Party, "first, last, and always" in competition with the Republican ''Oregon State Journal'' and the short-lived ''Eugene City Hawk-Eye,'' which professed allegiance to the similarly shorter-lived Oregon Independent Party, which ran a full slate of candidates for state and local office in the election of 1874.
Buys ended his tenure as owner of ''The Guard'' in May 1877 when he sold out to the sons of the original publisher, F.R. Alexander and W.R. Alexander. Their stint as publishers was nearly as brief as their father's, and in November 1878 they sold the paper yet again, this time to the brothers John R. Campbell and Ira Campbell, who would remain owners for 30 years.
Growth
![The Eugene City Guard](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/The_Eugene_City_Guard.png)
In 1890, the Eugene ''Guard'' became a daily newspaper. Charles H. Fisher took over the paper in 1907 and published it until 1912 when E. J. Finneran purchased the paper. Finneran bankrupted the newspaper in 1916, partly due to the purchase of a perfecting press that proved too expensive for such a small newspaper. The
University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
's journalism school briefly ran the paper during the
receivership
In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in ca ...
under the guidance of Eric W. Allen.
In April 1916, Fisher returned along with partner J. E. Shelton, forming The Guard Printing Company. Fisher continued to publish the ''Capital Journal'' in
Salem until 1921. In 1924, after Fisher died, Paul R. Kelty purchased the ''Guard'' and published it with his son, before selling it in 1927. The paper was purchased in 1927 by publisher Alton F. Baker Sr., whose father had published ''
The Plain Dealer
''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday.
As of Ma ...
''. Three years later, Baker bought the ''Morning Register'' and merged the two papers on November 17, the first edition was the next Reporter William Tugman was recruited from ''The Plain Dealer'' to be the managing editor of the new paper.
Post-merger history
In 1953, Tugman was one of four editors in the country to sign a declaration opposing Senator
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visi ...
's questioning of ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' editor
James Wechsler in closed
Senate hearings.
Eugene S. Pulliam of ''
The Indianapolis Star
''The Indianapolis Star'' (also known as ''IndyStar'') is a morning daily newspaper that began publishing on June 6, 1903, in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It has been the only major daily paper in the city since 1999, when the ''Indianap ...
'', J. R. Wiggins of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', and Herbert Brucker of ''
The Hartford Courant
The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...
'' were the other editors to sign the declaration, calling Senator McCarthy's actions "a peril to American freedom."
[
Alton F. "Bunky" Baker Jr., son of Alton F. Baker Sr., inherited the newspaper in 1961 and later passed it on to his brother Edwin. In the late 1980s, it was handed down to Alton F. "Tony" Baker III,] who remained the paper's editor and publisher for more than 28 years, until 2015.
It was an afternoon paper on weekdays until 1983; the last evening edition was on Friday, September 9, and it dropped "Eugene" from Saturday editions had shifted to mornings a dozen years earlier, in 1971; the last afternoon edition was
In August 1996, a photographer and reporter from the paper were arrested by the United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...
for trespass
Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels, and trespass to land.
Trespass to the person historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery, wounding ...
ing at the site of a timber protest in a national forest. The ''Register-Guard'' responded by suing the Forest Service for violating the First Amendment
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
freedom of the press.[ The criminal charges were later dropped and the civil suit was settled out of court.][Stein, M. L. "D.A. Will Not Prosecute Two Reporters". ''Editor & Publisher Magazine'', April 26, 1997. News; Pg. 93.]
Originally located in downtown Eugene, the paper moved to its current location in northeast Eugene in January 1998.[Contact us , The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA](_blank)
. Retrieved on March 14, 2008. The former Register-Guard building was leased by the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
and renamed the Baker Downtown Center for the Baker family. The building houses the university's printing and mailing facility, archives, and continuing education program, as well as the Oregon Career Information System.[
In 2000, the company began negotiations with the employee's union for a new contract, and during negotiations banned the use of the company email system by the union. This led to an ]unfair labor practice
An unfair labor practice (ULP) in United States labor law refers to certain actions taken by employers or unions that violate the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (49 Stat. 449) (also known as the NLRA and the Wagner Act after NY Senator R ...
charge against the newspaper, with the National Labor Relations Board
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States with responsibilities for enforcing U.S. labor law in relation to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices. Under the Natio ...
(NLRB) ruling for the paper in December 2007 that employers can ban employees' pro-union emails from the company email system. The NLRB reconsidered the decision on emails on June 26, 2011, under a remand for reconsideration by the United States Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. Upon review, the NLRB agreed with the Court that the R-G violated union members' rights by changing rules. The new decision allowed Register-Guard employees to send union-related emails without restrictions. On December 27, 2014, the NLRB overturned the 2007 ruling with Purple Communications, Inc., which gave union members the right to send union emails during non-work time.
In the weeks following the September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
, the newspaper saw a 1.6% increase in paper sales. In 2006, the paper received protests regarding its policy against including birth announcements from same-sex couples.[Steffen, Suzi]
"Maters or Paters Familias? Same-sex parents want their props from The Register-Guard".
''Eugene Weekly
''Eugene Weekly'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Eugene, Oregon. The paper, published every Thursday, has a circulation of 39,850. It publishes an annual "Best of Eugene" list, a restaurant guide ("Chow!"), and special section ...
'', December 21, 2006. Retrieved April 19, 2008. It was reported that managing editor Dave Baker was very helpful when same-sex couples first complained "until he talked to Alton Baker II and then he stopped returning our phone calls."[ In November 2008, the ''Register-Guard'' finally changed its policy and printed a birth announcement featuring names of both the child's female parents.
In 2003, the newspaper reduced the width of the printing to to reduce costs, and further shrank the paper to in 2009.
In 2009, two separate layoffs reduced the newspaper's staff by the equivalent of 41 positions; by August 2009, it had 305 full- and part-time employees.] The company's management blamed the layoffs on the "lousy economy" and advertising revenues that were 16% below projections in May and about 25% for June, July, and the first half of August.
In May 2015, Tony Baker stepped down as the ''Register-Guard''s editor and publisher, after 28 years, making the end of an 88-year span in which someone from the Baker family had headed the paper. He was succeeded as editor and publisher by N. Christian Anderson III, who had been publisher of ''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 ...
'' since 2009 and president of the Oregonian Media Group since 2013. Anderson began working in the new position on June 1, 2015, but held it for less than seven months. In mid-December 2015, Tony Baker, the chairman of the Guard Publishing Company, announced that Anderson "is no longer Editor and Publisher" of the ''Register-Guard'', and that the Baker family was taking control again. Tony Baker returned to the position of editor and publisher. In July 2016, Logan Molen took over as publisher and CEO of RG Media Company (the newspaper, marketing, advertising and digital services part of Guard Publishing Company), while Baker remained as chairman of the board of Guard Publishing.
Sale to GateHouse Media
In January 2018, the ''Register-Guard'' announced its sale to newspaper conglomerate GateHouse Media. The paper's ownership was officially transferred on March 1 of that year, with Molen replaced as publisher by GateHouse hire Shanna Cannon.
GateHouse Media purchased Gannett in November 2019, retaining the Gannett name for the merged operation.
In April 2020, Cannon departed the paper. Gannett announced Executive Editor Alison Bath would resume leadership of the newspaper. Gannett eliminated the executive editor position May 2, 2020, citing the ongoing integration of Gatehouse-Gannett merger. Managing Editor Michelle Maxwell is the highest-ranking editor in the Eugene newsroom. The ''Register-Guard'' will collaborate more closely in the Gannett network and with Pacific Northwest newsrooms, including the ''Statesman Journal'' in Salem, Oregon; the ''Kitsap Sun'' in Bremerton, Washington, and the ''Great Falls Tribune'' in Montana.
Awards
The paper won in a tie for best feature photo in 1997 from the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association
The Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association is a trade association for all paid-circulation daily, weekly, and multi-weekly newspapers in the U.S. state of Oregon. It represents and promotes newspapers, and encourages excellence in reporting and ...
. In 1998, the paper took first place for science reporting from the Pacific Northwest Society of Professional Journalists competition for Excellence in Journalism. ''The Register-Guard'' took first place in the same competition in 2001 for best arts coverage. In 1999, the newspaper was a Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
finalist for Spot News Photography, for its coverage of the community's reaction to shootings at Springfield's Thurston High School
Thurston High School is a public high school located in the Thurston area of Springfield, Oregon, United States.
Academics
In 2008, 80% of the school's seniors received a high school diploma. Of 338 students, 271 graduated, 30 dropped out, 11 re ...
by student Kip Kinkel
The Thurston High School shooting occurred on May 21, 1998, at Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon. 15-year-old freshman student Kipland Kinkel, who had been scheduled to appear at an expulsion hearing the day prior, murdered his parent ...
.
1999 Pulitzer Prize Winners - Spot News Photography, Citation
,'' Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. Retrieved March 16, 2008.
The Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association's 2010 General Excellence Award again went to ''The Register-Guard'', and so did the association's Best Overall Website award.
Blocked in Turkey
Since June 17, 2008, by court order, access to the website of ''The Register-Guard'' has been blocked in Turkey because its domain name
A domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control within the Internet. Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services and more. As ...
was once linked to a phishing
Phishing is a type of social engineering where an attacker sends a fraudulent (e.g., spoofed, fake, or otherwise deceptive) message designed to trick a person into revealing sensitive information to the attacker or to deploy malicious softwar ...
scam.
See also
*Alton Baker Park
Alton Baker Park is located in Eugene, Oregon, United States, near Autzen Stadium. It was named for Alton F. Baker Sr., the eleventh owner (60 years after it was founded) of Eugene's ''The Guard'' newspaper (later ''The Register-Guard''). It fe ...
, named for founder Alton F. Baker Sr.
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
''The Register-Guard'' website
''Eugene Register-Guard,''
Google news archive. —PDFs for 35,126 issues, dating from 1867 through 2008.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Register Guard, The
1867 establishments in Oregon
Mass media in Eugene, Oregon
Newspapers published in Oregon
Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association
Newspapers established in 1867