''The Oregon Journal'' was
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
's daily afternoon
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 ...
from 1902 to 1982. The ''Journal'' was founded in Portland by
C. S. "Sam" Jackson, publisher of
Pendleton, Oregon
Pendleton is a city and the county seat of Umatilla County, Oregon. The population was 17,107 at the time of the 2020 census, which includes approximately 1,600 people who are incarcerated at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution.
Pendleton ...
's ''East Oregonian'' newspaper, after a group of Portlanders convinced Jackson to help in the reorganization of the ''Portland Evening Journal.'' The firm owned several radio stations in the Portland area, as well. In 1961, the ''Journal'' was purchased by
S.I. Newhouse and
Advance Publications
Advance Publications, Inc., doing business as Advance, is an American media company owned by the descendants of S.I. Newhouse Sr., Donald Newhouse and S.I. Newhouse Jr. It owns a large number of subsidiary companies, including Condé Nast, an ...
, owners also 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 ...
'', the city's morning newspaper.
Founding
The Portland ''Evening Journal'' was first published on March 10, 1902.
[Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956.] This newspaper began as a campaign paper owned by A. D. Bowen, with William Wasson as the first editor.
However, within a few months the paper had floundered and was being liquidated.
In July 1902, the ''Evening Journal'', was taken over by C.S. "Sam" Jackson, who had been the publisher of 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 ...
'' based in
Pendleton.
Jackson renamed the paper ''The Oregon Daily Journal''.
[ In his first editorial as publisher of the ''Journal'', on July 23, 1902, Jackson declared:
]"The ''Journal'' in head and heart will stand for the people, be truly Democratic and free from political entanglements and machinations, believing in the principles that promise the greatest good to the greatest number – to ALL MEN, regardless of race, creed or previous condition of servitude.... It shall be a FAIR newspaper and not a dull and selfish sheet – nda credit to 'Where rolls the Oregon' country."
The ''Journal'' at its height
Sam Jackson served as the ''Journal's'' editor and publisher for 22 years, from July 1902 until his death in 1924. He was succeeded by his son, Philip L. Jackson, who, following his father's footsteps, ran the newspaper for 29 years, expanding into broadcasting.
Under the Jacksons' leadership, the ''Journal'' competed with the state's major newspaper, ''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 ...
'', also based in Portland, with the ''Journal'' touting itself as the "strong voice of the Oregon Country." The paper was involved in a number of early 20th century crusades for reform, including better control of Oregon timberlands, adoption of the initiative
In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a pu ...
, referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
and recall
Recall may refer to:
* Recall (bugle call), a signal to stop
* Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure
* ''ReCALL'' (journal), an academic journal about computer-assisted language learning
* Recall (memory)
* ''Recall'' (Overwatch ...
laws, direct election of U.S. senators, pure milk, and dredging of the Columbia River
The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...
navigation channel to allow development of Portland as a major world port.
The ''Journal'' ventured into radio, purchasing KOIN radio (AM 970). In 1932, the ''Journal'' purchased its second station, KALE (970 AM). In 1946 KOIN was sold to Field Enterprises
Field Enterprises, Inc. was a private holding company that operated from the 1940s to the 1980s, founded by Marshall Field III and others, whose main assets were the ''Chicago Sun'' and ''Parade'' magazine. For various periods of time, Field Enter ...
,
In 1947, the ''Journal'' became the first newspaper in the country to employ a helicopter on a regular basis to gather news photographs.
On June 6, 1948, KALE became KPOJ, standing for, Portland Oregon Journal. Also on this date KPOJ-FM (98.7) was launched.
The ''Journals circulation peaked in 1948, with daily sales of 201,421 and Sunday circulation of 217,808.[Crick, Rolla J. (September 4, 1982). "Journal ends 80 years of service". ''Oregon Journal''.]
Transition and decline
In 1953, Philip Jackson died from heart disease. William W. Knight, who had been the paper's legal counsel, was brought in as its new publisher. C.S. Jackson's widow, Maria Clopton Jackson, died just a few years later, in 1956.[The Jackson Foundation, "The Jackson Foundation: Created by Maria C. Jackson"]
Accessed: May 27, 2012. With the successive deaths of C.S. Jackson II, Philip Jackson, and Maria Jackson, no family heirs were left to oversee the business and its operations. In this era, afternoon newspapers began their decline due to the rise of television, changing commuting patterns and other forces. The paper's economic vitality was further sapped by a lengthy strike against both Portland newspapers that began in November 1959. The newspapers published a joint strike edition, but while separate publication of the ''Journal'' resumed in 1960, its circulation never approached pre-strike levels.
Although the will of C.S. Jackson's widow, Maria Clopton Jackson, had specified that the newspaper's stock should be transferred to its employees upon her death, the trustees of her estate challenged that decision in court. Eventually, the courts ruled that the provision was written in wishful, not binding language.
In 1961 the trustees, believing that losses from the strike could bankrupt the paper and deprive the foundation of much of its principal, sold the ''Journal'' to ''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 ...
's'' publisher, S. I. Newhouse, for $8 million. This amount was twice the bid made by an Oregon group. Newhouse had acquired ''The Oregonian,'' Portland's morning daily, in 1950. Newhouse consolidated production and business operations of the two newspapers in ''The Oregonian's'' building while keeping their editorial staffs separate. As a result of the Newhouse acquisition, publication of the ''Journals Sunday edition was discontinued. The company's radio stations were sold in 1961 to make way for the ''Journal's'' sale.
The ''Journal'' never recovered the readership lost in the 1959 strike. Its circulation steadily declined through the 1960s and 1970s.
Final decade(s)
William Knight continued as publisher, retiring in 1971. Other key creative forces in the paper's final decades included Editor Donald J. Sterling Jr., columnists Dick Fagan (creator of Mill Ends Park
Mill Ends Park (sometimes mistakenly called Mill's End Park) is a tiny urban park, consisting of one tree, located in the median strip of Naito Parkway, SW Naito Parkway next to Tom McCall Waterfront Park along the Willamette River near SW Taylor ...
, the world's smallest park) and Doug Baker, Sports Editor George Pasero and prize-winning photographer David Hume Kennerly
David Hume Kennerly (born March 9, 1947) is an American photographer. He won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for his portfolio of photographs of the Vietnam War, Cambodia, East Pakistani refugees near Calcutta, and the Ali-Fraz ...
.
Under the terms of sale of the ''Journal'' by The Jackson Foundation, the newspaper was to remain under "independent editors until 1981". In 1982, the ''Journal'' ceased publication due to declining circulation and advertising revenues. Most ''Journal'' reporters and many of the paper's features were moved into a revamped ''Oregonian''. The final edition of ''The Oregon Journal'' was published on September 4, 1982.
Awards and honors
* Founding publisher, C.S. Jackson, inducted into the Oregon Newspaper Hall of Fame, 1979[Oregon Newspaper Hall of Fame]
. Accessed May 13, 2012.
* Editor, Donald J. Sterling Jr., inducted into the Oregon Newspaper Hall of Fame, 1983
Locations
The ''Journal'' was published at four downtown Portland locations during its 80-year history. From 1902 to 1912, it was headquartered in the Goodnough Building at Fifth and Yamhill Streets. In 1912, the newspaper moved to a 12-story building it had constructed at Southwest Broadway and Yamhill Streets. (The iconic Portland building, now known as Jackson Tower, has been on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
since 1996.) The paper had outgrown that structure by the 1940s, and in 1948, the ''Journal'' moved to a three-block-long structure on SW Front Avenue that had originally been constructed in 1933 as the Portland Public Market
The Portland Public Market was a public market in Portland, Oregon, United States, built in 1933 at a widely advertised cost of $1 million ($ million in ). Controversial and ambitious, it was intended to replace the Carroll Public Market, c ...
. That building was home to the ''Journal'' until the paper was acquired by Newhouse in 1961. The building
stood empty and deteriorating until it was demolished in 1969; the site is now part of Tom McCall Waterfront Park
Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park is a park located in downtown Portland, Oregon, along the Willamette River. After the 1974 removal of Harbor Drive, a major milestone in the freeway removal movement, the park was opened to the public in 1978 ...
.
Archives and legacy
Archives of the ''Journal'' are maintained by ''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 ...
''.
The firm's legacy lives on in the airwaves, as well: besides KOIN Koin or KOIN may refer to:
* KOIN, a TV station in Portland, Oregon
* Koin, Guinea
Koin, Guinea (Pular: 𞤂𞤫𞤧-𞤯𞤢𞤤𞤭𞥅𞤪𞤫 𞤑𞤮𞤴𞤭𞤲) is a town and sub-prefecture in the Tougué Prefecture in the Labé Regi ...
-TV (now owned by Nexstar and still a CBS affiliate), KOIN today is KUFO
KUFO (970 Hertz, kHz) is a commercial radio, commercial AM broadcasting, AM radio station city of license, licensed to Portland, Oregon. The station, owned by Alpha Media, calls itself "Freedom 970" and airs a talk radio, talk radio format. KUFO ...
; FM 101.1 is now KXL-FM
KXL-FM (101.1 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Portland, Oregon. It is owned by Alpha Media and broadcasts a news/ talk radio format. The studios are on SW 5th Avenue in downtown Portland. KXL-FM is the flagship station for the national ...
; KALE is KKPZ
KKPZ (1330 AM, "The Truth") was a radio station broadcasting a religious radio format. Licensed to Portland, Oregon, United States, it served the greater Portland metro area. The station was owned by KPHP Radio, Inc. (Crawford Broadcasting Comp ...
; and KPOJ-FM is KUPL
KUPL (98.7 FM) is a commercial radio station in Portland, Oregon. The station is owned by Alpha Media and airs a country music radio format, known as "98.7 The Bull."
KUPL's studios and offices are located in Downtown Portland on SW 5th Avenue ...
. The current KPOJ
KPOJ (620 AM) is a radio station serving the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon and neighboring Washington. It airs a sports format, and is affiliated with Fox Sports Radio. Its transmitter is located in Sunnyside, Oregon, ...
at 620 (a sports radio
Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...
station since 2012) is unrelated in any way to the ''Journal'' and its broadcast division, and the calls were exploited in an unsuccessful attempt to mine nostalgia value during a 2003 conversion of that station to an oldies
Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...
format.
See also
* Jackson Tower
* Portland Public Market
The Portland Public Market was a public market in Portland, Oregon, United States, built in 1933 at a widely advertised cost of $1 million ($ million in ). Controversial and ambitious, it was intended to replace the Carroll Public Market, c ...
Footnotes
Further reading
* Dana, Marshall N. ''Newspaper Story: Fifty Years of the Oregon Journal, 1902-1952'' (Dust jacket title: ''The First Fifty Years of the Oregon Journal: A Newspaper Story''). Portland: Binfords and Mort
Binford & Mort Publishing is a book publishing company located in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1930, the company was previously known as Metropolitan Press and Binfords & Mort. At one time they were the largest book publisher in t ...
, 1951.
*
External links
"Oregon Journal photographs collection, 1902–1982"
at ''Archives West''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oregon Journal, The
Newspapers published in Portland, Oregon
Defunct newspapers published in Oregon
Publications established in 1902
Publications disestablished in 1982
Radio stations in Portland, Oregon
The Oregonian
1902 establishments in Oregon
1982 disestablishments in Oregon
Special edition strike paper