Oregon Media Insiders

Layoffs in Hillsboro. The Advance-owned Argus, purchased from the McKinney family a few years ago to keep Pamplin from elbowing into that advertising hole, got a mandate from NY to cut staff.

Sports editor Ron Forbes, who'd worked for the paper for either 29 or 39 years depending on who you believe (and at the Oregonian before that), was let go. So was photog Chester Epperson, who had 21 years at the Argus and was well known in western Washington County.

Also gone were one classified rep and one circulation person from the paper that years ago fired its paperboys in favor of mailing out the paper twice a week.

All parties were given 2 months pay. Staff has been told to pick up their cameras and take up the load for what Chester won't be shooting anymore. Fun at a paper where the publisher mandates at least one picture per news hole, and no wire service to help.

The bleeding's over for now, but the publisher is checking the books at the end of October to see where the finances stand.

What happened to Chad Carter on the weekends and his wife(her name escapes me)?

I was told recently by a newspaper business-type person that weeklies are in better shape than large daily newspapers. In some cases, companies with these weeklies are doing everything they can to increase the profit margin at the smaller papers to infuse cash into the bigger, daily product.

Does anyone know if this is true?

All I know is that independent weeklies (i.e. ones that aren't associated with large corporations or dailies) haven't been laying people off -- in fact Journalism jobs has listed weekly jobs.

Yeah, the fame and fortune aren't the same at weekly papers, but if its stable that would be something.

Anyone know if this is true, or did the person I talk with have one too many beers?

Anyone know if KGW dropped the Sunday morning news show? I know a week or two ago it wasn't on due to the Ryder Cup and other golf, but today it was cartoons. Is this just a temporary thing or is it gone?

A victim of budget cuts and low ratings.

I see that Sabrina Register is no longer on the NWCN website. Did she leave on her own or let go for budget costs?

Looks like Kim Maus is off GDO. They now have 6 weather people.

Pete Ferryman - Good Day Oregon
Julie Grauert - Good Day Oregon
Kimberly Maus - BetterTV, 4PM, 5PM
Wayne Garcia - 4PM, 8PM, 10PM
Shauna Parsons - 5PM, 8PM, 10PM
Kevin Coari - 11PM
Debra Gil - weekend Good Day Oregon
Chad Carter - weekend 5PM, 10PM
Sophie Soong - weekend 5PM, 10PM

Weather
Andy Carson - Good Day Oregon
Mark Nelsen (Chief Meteorologist, CBM) - 4PM, 5PM, 10PM
Drew Jackson (CBM) - 8PM, 11PM
Stephanie Ortmann - weekend Good Day Oregon
Stephanie Kralevich - weekend 5PM, 10PM
Rob Martin - Consulting Meteorologist, Good Day Oregon

I'm pretty amazed that no one has weighed in on the propriety of the Oregonian distribuing the Clarion Fund's anti-Muslim DVD in its Sunday editions.

I blogged on this a couple of weeks ago, http://jimlewis.wordpress.com/2008/09/15/misusing-non-profit-status/
but my focus was more on the use of the 501(c)(3) "education" status for what seems to be a fairly partisan agenda. (Abuse of tax-exempt non-profit status is a topic in which I have a professional interest.)

As a published letter suggested this morning, it seems fatuous for Fred Stickel to posit this as a freedom of speech issue unless he would also accept an add from the KKK heaping abuse on African Americans or Jews ... but perhaps not.

Hello,

My name is Tom Senkus. I have posted on this list many times concerning different matters. However, the following is the most pertinent:

By trade, I work a myriad of jobs, including a freelance journalist. On September 17th, I queried both the Willamette Week and the Portland Mercury for a feature spotlight on street musicians/buskers, drawing parallels between the economy, the weather, and their subsequent plight. While rejected from the WWeek, I received the following from an inquiry from the Portland Mercury:

Hi Tom,

Erik Henriksen here, the associate managing editor for the Willamette Week. Thanks for your pitch! As you are no doubt aware, our Pulitzer-winning publication is always on the lookout for stories about "hot topics" in and around Portland, including buskers.

Based on your pitch, there's a lot of great stuff you're looking to write about in this story. Our chief concern at the moment is, in fact, that despite the great hook of the story (buskers), you might be trying to do too much in such a small space (only 750 words). We like our features to be very, very thorough and to take quite a lot of time for our readers to get through, so we're thinking a word count around 2,000 words, at least for this rough draft, might be more appropriate. We also anticipate reader interest to be high in this feature, provided you focus not only on the buskers and their day-to-day busking but also on the obvious "current events" elements about the story that make it timely. (I.e., the "economic barometer" aspect you mentioned, which sounds both scientific and fascinating.)

Unfortunately, I'm going to be out of town for the next few weeks, but I've told Arts & Culture Editor Kelly Clarke and Staff Writer Byron Beck about your pitch, and they're both quite intrigued. Please email them your 2,000 word draft no later than 3 p.m. on Saturday. (Kelly's email is kclarke@wweek.com, and Byron's is bbeck@wweek.com. Make the subject line "Requested feature on Portland's buskers" to avoid any confusion.) They'll take a look at the story then, and will be in touch with you shortly thereafter about a publication date and our freelance pay rates.

Sincerely,

--Erik

Normally, this would be a go-ahead to write an article. Considering my unfamiliarity with the editors or the difference between the papers (one's the wacky one, one's the straight-laced alterna-rag), I took this to be an assignment. Legitimate interviews followed, as well as numerous hours spent crafting an article, which is nearing completion.

However, when requesting a photographer to help round out a personal spotlight, the WWeek was unaware. After several confusing emails, Kelly Clark, editor from the WWeek, emailed me this:

Erik Henriksen is the film critic for the Portland Mercury. http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Profile?oid=oid%3A825456

He is not employed by Willamette Week nor does he speak for any member of the WW staff.

It sounds like he's having some fun at your expense. Willamette Week has not accepted your pitch for a feature.

Best of luck with placing your story with another publication.

Thank you,

Kelly

To be more straight-forward, the film editor of the Portland Mercury had set me up as a fool to outrival their competitor and have malevolent fun with a freelancer. While I may have taken this lying down, I went to the office and tried to state my case--only to be thrown out. I have a cassette tape of the incident (including a soon-to-be-uploaded mp3). Its incredibly wrong when a simple "no, we're full for features this month, thank you," would have sufficed. That is the standard modus operandi when dealing with freelancers.

This is an issue of ethics and I believe its not small notion to call for the resignation of Erik Henriksen. Not only did he impersonate another individual, he willfully manipulated another individual that doesn't have the luxury of his own salary. In times of economic downfall, this attitude stinks of the elitism.

Hypothetically, could you have been duped as a band/performer/filmmaker/et cetera-ist by his ethics? Could you have subject to mockery of this nature? Could you support a newspaper that uses deception as part of its operation?

Worse, I gather that this is the not the first time an incident of this nature has occured.

Please join in an effort to have his position given to someone more familiar with sound journalistic creed and email the following with your opinion:

mercuryeditorial@portlandmercury.com (General Correspondence to the Portland Mercury)
erik@portlandmercury.com (Erik Henriksen, Film Editor)
steve@portlandmercury.com (Wm. Steven Humphrey, Editor)
marjorie@portlandmercury.com (Marjorie Skinner, Managing Editor)

Thank you for your support,
Tom Senkus

I heard there were several layoffs at NWCN, not just Sabrina Register.

It's Official... Patrick McCreery to Vice President/General Manager at KPTV/KPDX-TV

http://meredith.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=440

I don't mean this as a criticism, just as a helpful suggestion you can obviously reject at your pleasure, but given that your time to devote to this, your hobby site, is limited, is there anyone you know, possibly another former media insider, who could do some administrating duties?

I'm too tired to make that not be a very long sentence separated by commas.