''Portland Mercury'' is an alternative bi-weekly newspaper and media company founded in 2000 in

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 ...

. It has a sibling publication in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, called '' The Stranger''.

Contributors and staff

Editor-in-chief: Wm. Steven Humphrey
News editor: Alex Zielinski
Arts and culture editor: Blair Stenvick
News reporter: Isabella Garcia
Publisher: Rob Thompson Current list retrieved on July 27, 2021.

History

The current ''Portland Mercury'' launched in June 2000. The paper describes their readership as "affluent urbanites in their 20s and 30s." Its long-running rivalry with ''

Willamette Week ''Willamette Week'' (''WW'') is an alternative weekly newspaper and a website published in Portland, Oregon, United States, since 1974. It features reports on local news, politics, sports, business, and culture. History Early history ''Willame ...

'' began before its first issue was even printed when ''Willamette Week'' publisher Richard Meeker asked a Portland law firm to pay $10 to register the ''Mercury'' name with Oregon's Corporation Division, thus preventing it from being used for 120 days. ''Portland Mercury'' has hosted or co-hosted events over the years including political events like Brewhaha and Hecklevision, a film series that encourages audience members to use a texting system to write jokes and commentary that appear on the screen. At one point, the newspaper's revenue was almost entirely dependent on advertising and sales of tickets for events and concerts with nearly 95% of its revenue coming from advertisements. Former managing editor Phil Busse's controversial tenure included charges of plagiarism, a favorable review for a restaurant that hadn't yet opened, a bid for mayor, and a cover featuring him wearing women's underwear, dollops of whipped cream, and a hard hat. '' Shrill'', a television series based on Seattle-based writer

Lindy West Lindy West (born March 9, 1982) is an American writer, comedian and activist. She is the author of the essay collection '' Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman'' and a contributing opinion writer for ''The New York Times''. The topics she writes abou ...

’s memoir and essay collection of the same name, is inspired by ''The Stranger'' and ''Portland Mercury'' and stars actress

Aidy Bryant Aidan Mackenzy Bryant (born May 7, 1987) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the late-night variety series ''Saturday Night Live'' (2012–2022), beginning in season 38, and leaving at the end of season 47. For her wo ...

. ''Portland Mercurys print edition was published weekly until fall 2018 when it changed to bi-weekly beginning with the issue released on September 13, 2018. Its name as displayed on the

nameplate A nameplate identifies and displays a person or product's name. Nameplates are usually shaped as rectangles but are also seen in other shapes, sometimes taking on the shape of someone's written name. Nameplates primarily serve an informat ...

was shortened to just ''Mercury'' as well. On March 14, 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the paper temporarily suspended print publication and switched to online only. In addition, it laid off 10 employees, which comprised half of the publication's staff.

The original ''Mercury''

A weekly newspaper called ''The Mercury'' and later ''The Sunday Mercury'' was founded in Salem in 1869, and moved to Portland a few years later. Oregon writer

Homer Davenport Homer Calvin Davenport (March 8, 1867 – May 2, 1912) was a political cartoonist and writer from the United States. He is known for drawings that satirized figures of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, most notably Ohio Senator Mark Hanna. Alth ...

described approaching the ''Mercury'' when he arrived in Portland as a young man, and being sent to New Orleans to cover and draw pictures of the

Fitzsimmons Fitzsimons (also spelled FitzSimons, Fitzsimmons or FitzSimmons) is a surname of Norman origin common in both Ireland and England. The name is a variant of "Sigmundsson", meaning son of Sigmund. The Gaelicisation of this surname is Mac Shíomóin. ...

Dempsey Dempsey is a surname of Irish origin. Background Dempsey is an anglicised form of Ó Díomasaigh, 'descendant of Díomasach'; this personal name is the Irish adjective ''díomasach'' 'proud'. The family originated in the Kingdom of Uí Failghe ...

fight. The Mercury was best known for being the subject of a major libel lawsuit involving attorney and writer

C.E.S. Wood Charles Erskine Scott Wood or C.E.S. Wood (February 20, 1852January 22, 1944) was an American author, civil liberties advocate, artist, soldier, attorney, and Georgist. He is best known as the author of the 1927 satirical bestseller, '' Heavenly ...

. The

Oregon Supreme Court The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States.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 ...

'' praised the plaintiffs for having "abolished a publication insidiously demoralizing as well as unspeakably offensive." The ''Sunday Mercury'' continued into the 20th century, described as a legitimate enterprise, with C. H. Clute and William J. Swope serving as publisher.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Portland Mercury, The 2000 establishments in Oregon Alternative weekly newspapers published in the United States Newspapers published in Portland, Oregon Newspapers established in 2000 The Stranger (newspaper)