The ''Forest Grove Leader'' was a weekly community

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, 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 p ...

in Forest Grove in the U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. Started in 2012, it was published by the Oregonian Publishing Company, which also published ''

The Hillsboro Argus ''The Hillsboro Argus'' was a twice-weekly newspaper in the city of Hillsboro, Oregon, from 1894 to 2017, known as the ''Washington County Argus'' for its final year. The ''Argus'' was distributed in Washington County, Oregon, United States. First ...

'' newspaper and continues to publish ''

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, 18 ...

''. The free publication competed with the ''News-Times'' in the city, a suburb of the

Portland metropolitan area The Portland metropolitan area is a metro area in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington centered on the principal city of Portland, Oregon. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) identifies it as the Portland–Vancouver–Hillsboro, ...

. In January 2016, it was combined with two other newspapers to form the ''Washington County Argus'', but the ''Argus'' ceased publication only 14 months later, in March 2017.

History

''The Oregonian'', the major daily newspaper in the Portland area, purchased ''The Hillsboro Argus'', a community newspaper in Hillsboro, in 1999.

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. H ...

, who publishes the ''News-Times'', a

community paper Community paper is a term used by publishers, advertisers and readers to describe a range of publications that share a common service to their local community and commerce. Their predominant medium being newsprint, often free and published at regul ...

in Forest Grove, launched the '' Hillsboro Tribune'' in August 2012 to compete with ''The Argus''. In October 2012, the Oregonian Publishing Co. announced it would launch a newspaper in Forest Grove, the ''Leader''. It had been rumored the prior month that the company would launch the paper. The new, free publication started on October 17, 2012, and replaced the ''Courier'', which had been a free ''Argus'' paper delivered to residents in western Washington County. The first issue was set to be mailed free to over 16,000 homes. The publisher planned to open a local office in Forest Grove after the ''Leader'' debut and hire new employees while also using existing staff. The move by the ''Leader''’s owners was seen as payback for Pamplin’s move into Hillsboro, with the newspaper war focused on winning the Hillsboro market. The Hillsboro market had 93,455 residents compared to 21,488 for Forest Grove, and household spending on retail goods in Hillsboro was 154 percent of the state-wide figure while the same figure for Forest Grove was only 41.9 percent. The competition between the media companies in Washington County was the focus of a "Think Out Loud" segment on

Oregon Public Broadcasting Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) is the primary television and radio public broadcasting network for most of the U.S. state of Oregon as well as southern Washington. OPB consists of five full-power television stations, dozens of VHF or UHF tra ...

in November 2012. In January 2013, Samantha Swindler was named as the editor of the paper. In December 2015, it was announced that the paper would be combined with the ''Beaverton Leader'' and the ''Hillsboro Argus'' to form the ''Washington County Argus''. The successor paper lasted only 14 months, being discontinued in March 2017.

Coverage

The paper was designed to provide

hyperlocal Hyperlocal is information oriented around a well-defined community with its primary focus directed toward the concerns of the population in that community. The term can be used as a noun in isolation or as a modifier of some other term (e.g. new ...

coverage to Forest Grove,

Banks A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becaus ...

, Gales Creek, Gaston, and parts of Cornelius. Stories would be posted online at OregonLive.com, which also hosts content from ''The Oregonian''. Coverage included high school sports, education,

Pacific University Pacific University is a private university in Forest Grove, Oregon. Founded in 1849 as the Tualatin Academy, the original Forest Grove campus is west of Portland. The university maintains three other campuses in Eugene, Hillsboro, and Wo ...

, government, and other local news in the Forest Grove area.

References

External links

Welcome message from the publisher to readers
{{Advance Publications 2012 establishments in Oregon 2016 disestablishments in Oregon Advance Publications

Leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...

Defunct newspapers published in Oregon Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association The Oregonian Newspapers established in 2012 Publications disestablished in 2016