Oregon Media Insiders

The pubic has not owned the airwaves since the FCC was invented.
Having the largest staff and highest paid staff comes from years of being known as the station that not only covers the news better than anyone else and can be relied on to be there when you need them, but also having the public image as the station that cares about the community.
Belo (KGW) works hard at maintaining that image. The current drive for the Oregon Food bank, the Christmas toy drive, little things like shredding days. They all reinforce the public image as the station that cares.
When viewers think of KGW they think of quality and tune in. When they tune in, their reporters and anchors and the rest of the staff give them a quality product that is unmatched in the Portland market.
If one finds that product distracting, feel free to look elsewhere and try to find something better.
Good luck.