The Pamplin Media Group (PMG) is a media conglomerate owned by Carpenter Media Group and operating primarily in the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Robert B. Pamplin, Jr. founded the company in 2001 and sold it to Carpenter in 2024.[1][2] As of 2019, the company owns 25 newspapers and employs 200 people.[3]
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Media |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Founder | Robert B. Pamplin, Jr. |
Area served | Portland metropolitan area |
| Owner | Carpenter Media Group |
Number of employees | 200 |
| Website | pamplinsubscribe |
Each chain writes and edits its own stories and shares them with each other and several subscribers, including newspapers in Medford, Corvallis, and Albany.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
History
editRobert B. Pamplin, Jr. purchased Community Newspapers, Inc. in August 2000. The sale included eleven newspapers in the Portland suburbs (Beaverton Valley Times, Forest Grove News-Times, Lake Oswego Review, Tigard Times, Tualatin Times, West Linn Tidings, Our Town, Sherwood Gazette and Southwest Community Connection). The total staff was about 130.[11] The company also acquired the Sellwood Bee around that time in a separate sale.[12] The papers were to be managed by Oregon Publications Corp., a subsidy of R.B. Pamplin Corp.[13] The business' name was later changed to Pamplin Media Group.
In November 2000, the company bought four titles from Lee Enterprises. The sale included The Gresham Outlook, the Sandy Post and two monthly publications: The East County News and Lifestyles Northwest.[14] In February 2001, Pamplin founded the Portland Tribune, which would serve as the media group's flagship title.[15] In February 2005, Pamplin purchased the monthly newspaper King City Regal Courier from the Hieb family.[16] In September 2012, the company launched the Hillsboro Tribune.[17]
On January 8, 2013, Pamplin bought five newspapers from Eagle Newspapers, Inc. in the Portland area (Canby Herald, Wilsonville Spokesman, Molalla Pioneer, The Newberg Graphic, and the Woodburn Independent), along with The Madras Pioneer in Central Oregon.[18][19] In June 2013, it also purchased the Central Oregonian from Eagle along with its printing facility in Prineville.[20][21]
In 2014, Pamplin partnered with the EO Media Group, which publishes the East Oregonian and several other weekly and monthly publications in Oregon, to form the Oregon Capital Bureau and publish the Oregon Capital Insider newsletter. The partnership came as the number of reporters assigned to state capital bureaus nationwide was on the decline.[22] That same year Pamplin launched the Business Tribune.[23]
In 2018, the newly-launched Salem Reporter joined the bureau, and its publisher, Les Zaitz, was assigned to lead its three reporters. The Salem Reporter left the cooperative in early 2020 and Zaitz left the operation. The Oregon Capital Bureau as of late winter 2020 includes just the EO Media Group and Pamplin.[24] Also in 2018, Pamplin completed a $1 million expansion on its Gresham press plant.[25]
In August 2019, the Hillsboro Tribune was merged into the Forest Grove News-Times.[26] In January 2020, the Canby Herald and Molalla Pioneer were merged to form The Herald-Pioneer.[27] In March that same year, about 20 newsroom employees were laid off and staff hours were reduced following a loss of revenue stemming from the COVID-19 recession in the United States.[28] In July 2022, Pamplin announced it would no longer host a comments section on the articles published to its websites.[29]
In April 2023, Pamplin launched YourOregonNews.com, which aggregates stories from all of its newspapers.[30] That same year in June, Pamplin agreed to sell its 39,000-square-foot Milwaukie-area building headquarters to Clackamas County for $11 million.[31] In August, the Clackamas Review switched from weekly to monthly publication and was renamed to the Milwaukie Review. The Oregon City News switched to monthly publication as well.[32]
In December 2023, Pamplin announced its Gresham printing plant would close the following month and about two dozen employees would lose their jobs. Pamplin shifted production of its newspapers to The Columbian's plant in Vancouver, Washington.[33]
In June 2024, Pamplin was sold to Carpenter Media Group.[1][2] Six weeks later an unknown number of employees were laid off, including longtime statehouse reporter Peter Wong.[34] That same month the Sherwood Gazette ceased publication[35] and the Estacada News was later shuttered.[36]
Newspapers
edit| State | Service area | Newspaper |
|---|---|---|
| Oregon | Beaverton | Beaverton Valley Times |
| Sellwood (Portland) | The Bee | |
| Canby | Canby Herald | |
| Prineville | Central Oregonian | |
| Clackamas | Clackamas Review | |
| Estacada | Estacada News | |
| Forest Grove | Forest Grove News-Times | |
| Hillsboro | Hillsboro Tribune | |
| King City | King City Regal Courier | |
| Lake Oswego | Lake Oswego Review | |
| Madras | The Madras Pioneer | |
| Molalla | Molalla Pioneer | |
| Newberg | The Newberg Graphic | |
| Oregon City | Oregon City News | |
| Gresham | The Outlook | |
| Portland | Portland Tribune | |
| Sandy | Sandy Post | |
| Scappoose | Columbia County Spotlight | |
| Southwest Portland | Southwest Community Connection | |
| Tigard/Tualatin/Sherwood | The Valley Times (Tigard/Tualatin) | |
| West Linn | West Linn Tidings | |
| Wilsonville | Wilsonville Spokesman | |
| Woodburn | Woodburn Independent | |
| Statewide | Business Tribune |
References
edit- ^ a b "Pamplin Media Group sells to Carpenter Media Group" (Press release). Editor & Publisher. June 3, 2024. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
- ^ a b Rogoway, Mike (June 3, 2024). "Pamplin Media, Portland Tribune's owner, sells to Carpenter Media". The Oregonian. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ Rogoway, Mike (September 19, 2019). "Pamplin Media cuts pay, hours amid media industry's continued troubles". The Oregonian. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
- ^ Hare, Kristen (September 24, 2018). "In Oregon, three news organizations are teaming up to cover state government". Poynter. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
- ^ Ingram, Mathew (September 26, 2018). "Zuckerberg's death grip on Instagram". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
- ^ "Salem Reporter joins 2 news groups to expand state reporting". Salem Reporter. September 24, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
- ^ "Media teams join forces to cover state government, politics". Portland Tribune. September 24, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
- ^ "Expanded state government reporting comes to Oregon". Blue Mountain Eagle. September 24, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
- ^ "EO Media Group, Pamplin launch Salem bureau for statehouse reporting". Capital Press. August 1, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
- ^ "Newsletter covering Oregon government debuts". Blue Mountain Eagle. February 23, 2015. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
- ^ Tims, Dana (August 4, 2000). "Purchases solidify newspaper opposistion". The Oregonian. p. 95.
- ^ Fitzsimons, Eileen G. (September 2006). "The Bee 100 Year Retrospective: 1981-2006: Reflection" (PDF). The Bee. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 2, 2009.
- ^ Samuels, Barbara (March 4, 2001). "Business Briefing". The Columbian. p. 46.
- ^ Tomlinson, Stuart (November 12, 2000). "Millionaire buys four more news operations". The Sunday Oregonian. p. 40.
- ^ McCall, William (February 8, 2001). "Portland's venerable daily newspaper gets a competitor". The Desert Sun. p. 87. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
- ^ "Regal Courier". Muck Rack. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
- ^ Redden, Jim (September 5, 2012). "Survey: City hits home run". Hillsboro Tribune. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
- ^ "Pamplin Media Group acquires 6 weekly papers from Eagle Newspapers". The Oregonian. January 8, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
- ^ Giegerich, Andy (January 8, 2013). "Pamplin Media buys more papers". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
- ^ Giegerich, Andy (June 27, 2013). "Pamplin group buys Prineville's Central Oregonian paper". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
- ^ "Pamplin newspaper group buys Central Oregonian". Portland Tribune. June 27, 2013. Archived from the original on January 6, 2023. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
- ^ "Defying trend, newspaper companies launch new Salem bureau". Portland Tribune. August 7, 2014. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ Tong, Vance W. (January 26, 2016). "Business news times two". Business Tribune. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
- ^ "About Us". Oregon Capital Insider. Archived from the original on November 22, 2021. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
- ^ Wells, Shannon O. (March 27, 2018). "Pamplin Media rolls out its press plant expansion". Forest Grove News-Times. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
- ^ Pamplin Media Group (August 7, 2019). "Hillsboro Tribune will publish under News-Times flag: Newspaper will be published as zoned edition of the News-Times". Hillsboro Tribune. pp. A1, A16. Archived from the original on August 8, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- ^ Baker, John (January 13, 2020). "Financial reality in Molalla means real changes". Canby Herald. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
- ^ Singer, Matthew (April 3, 2020). "Veteran Sportswriter Kerry Eggers Is Among Those Laid Off by Pamplin Media Group". Willamette Week. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
- ^ Pursinger, Geoff (July 26, 2022). "Column: Our comments are leaving; our commitment isn't". The Gresham Outlook. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
- ^ "Pamplin Media launches regional website – YourOregonNews.com". YourOregonNews.com. April 24, 2023. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
- ^ Redleman, Raymond (June 1, 2023). "Portland Tribune parent company Pamplin Media Group to sell Milwaukie-area headquarters to Clackamas County". The Bulletin. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
- ^ Monihan, J. Brian (June 28, 2023). "Changes happening to the Clackamas Review". Milwaukie Review. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
- ^ Jaquiss, Nigel (December 18, 2023). "Pamplin Media Group Will Shut Down Printing Press". Willamette Week. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ Kish, Matthew (July 17, 2024). "New owner of Portland Tribune, other Oregon newspapers lays off some staff". The Oregonian. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
- ^ DeBuse, Nikki (July 24, 2024). "Sherwood Gazette to cease publication". Sherwood Gazette. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
- ^ Brown, Steve (August 22, 2024). "Help the Estacada News: Our newspaper is making big changes, but it's not too late to help". Estacada News. Retrieved August 25, 2024.