Oregon Media Insiders

KATU, Channel 2. Having local news at 4:30 was great. It's the only station left with a Salem bureau, I think.

Yes, Channel 6. It's taking a beating due to a cost-cutting corporate owner.

KGW, Channel 8. A long-time leader in local news that has been trying to emulate its toughest competitor, channel 12. News-ertainment rules, apparently.

What used to be the UPN station, KPDX 49. It carries the programs of the latest "network" trying to bridge the gap left by the merger of UPN and WB, called "MY Network TV." It's at channel 13 on some cable systems.

Yes, that would be KWBP 32, the former WB station that now is the CW outlet for Portland. They carry channel 8's news staff at 10. It's hard to watch because of the peculiar set-up used for the news feed between KGW and KWBP, in my opinion. But yes, I watch it anyway, at least for the weather.

Yes, KPTV 12, the station that found the the formula for turning news into entertainment programming. Watching their news at 10 is kind of like watching an episode of Cops blended with Entertainment Tonight and the old Hard Copy program. It isn't very informative, but it's at times scary and definitely entertaining. Put another way, it's "news" for people who don't really care much about news. Whether this is good or bad depends on whether you think it is more important for citizens to be informed or entertained, I suppose.

PDX is the three letter code for Portland International Airport, although international flights have markedly decreased in recent years. (With the exception of the always reliable Horizon puddle jumpers to Canada!).

However, the PDX term has taken on a life of its own as a very popular and high quality media and politics board. PDXradio.com

PDX, as airport codes go, is one of the cooler letter combos, as it rolls off the tongue better than most. (Perhaps LAX comes in at a close 2nd). But LGA (LaGuardia), or ORD (Chicago O'Hare), just don't seem to have the same magic. So PDX has become a symbol not only for the mid-size airport, the before-mentioned media board, but for the Rose City itself.

PDXradio is one of the best and most frequented local media boards in the U.S. All the credit goes to Dan Packard, who has let the board grow with minimal interference. You can go to "Radio-Info.com" and not find the same kind of discussion and passion you can find on PDXradio.com. But enough of the free plugs. Hope this helps you navigate your newly discovered media discoveries. Happy viewing and listening!

The soon to be ruler of the world. LOL J/K. :)

I stand corrected...going on a story I read a couple of years ago. Good to see a new push for international flights. A very under-estimated value to any local economy.

Upon further investigation, PDX is still far behind Sea-Tac in international departures. Delta International has abandoned both airports (perhaps due to financial difficuly but Sea-Tac still runs with SAS, Northwest, British, Asiana, China Air, EVA, Korean, and all the Canadian carriers.

The longer haul airliners of the future may well reduce US destinations, perhaps limited to LAX, ORD, and DFX and Atlanta. Which means airports like PDX must do a better job in attracting local commuters to survive.