Comment by oooyay
2 days ago
I live in Portland, OR. The Oregonian/Oregon Live actually broke the story that the mayor was quietly pushing shelters out. Their news broke before I got the city mandated postcard I should have received living next to the proposed shelter.
KGW broke that the shelter process was occurring without community involvement and feedback processes. Frankly, the Mayor and three district councilors came to our neighborhood meeting. That just doesn't happen in East Portland and was not possible without the involvement of local news.
Willamette Week is a gem, I agree. They broke the Shamaya Fagan story as well as numerous others. I'm saying it's not all bad, especially compared to other localities.
Imago Dei? KGW didn't break anything that the Oregonian hadn't run two weeks prior on Dec. 3, and they got scooped by OPB on it in November. The best coverage KGW (owned and operated by Virginia-based TEGNA, which TIL is in the process of getting Nexstar'd) has had of homelessness was covering their news van getting broken into by a homeless couple and stealing their gear.
Yes that one. They definitely did. I know the people who were interviewed and I know what they said. That neighborhood meeting was because the neighborhood learned that the Mayors office had side stepped the public input process. The mayor admitted it that night. Reporting can be better but my point was that politics does not move East of 205 and for the first time I saw it. The reporter and the photojournalist both lived in Portland. The difference was local media regardless of who they're owned or operated by.
A lot of these comments are indexing on ownership. While I agree ownership plays a factor I think whether the actual journalist is from here plays a more outsized role in how they present and investigate the news.