From the editor’s desk
Published 8:00 am Saturday, June 24, 2023
- Eastern Oregon University math teacher Patty Sandoz, shown outside her office at Loso Hall on Friday, June 16, will soon be inducted into the Oregon Council of Teachers of Mathematics Hall of Fame.
Oregon House Bill 2605 was designed to allocate resources to help expand and boost local journalism but the proposed edict failed to receive support for funds in the current Legislative session.
That’s unfortunate for a number of reasons.
The bill garnered plenty of support from a wide range of people — including journalists and community leaders — who saw the need to beef up local journalism in rural areas
It is no secret that journalism — and rural journalism in particular — face hard challenges and has for a long time.
The bill would have earmarked grants to help local journalism in Oregon and helped stem the tide of what are called “news deserts” through the state. Guided through a non-profit, money would have been siphoned to key areas of the state to protect journalism.
Now, about one-quarter of Oregon counties face the specter of becoming news deserts where there is no viable local journalism outlet.
The situation is a stark one and the failure of the bill is yet another piece of bad news for an industry that is vital to the overall health of democracy.
Yet while we face difficult challenges, those who supported the bill should get ready to take another run at lawmakers during the next legislative session.
The aim of the bill is a good one and would bring much-needed help to small newsrooms across the state that struggle to stay afloat. Without such entities, without strong local journalism, every taxpayer loses.
Government should be, as Lincoln said, for and by the people and one way to ensure that happens is through a strong, local newspaper or other media outlet that is a value-free entity overlooking the actions of area elected leaders.
The bill would have been a tremendous help but those who supported it should not lose hope but find a way to get it back before lawmakers in the next session.
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As always, if you have comments or questions about The Observer: acutler@lagrandeobserver.com.
Finally, let me take this opportunity to once again thank The Observer’s subscribers: We simply would be unable to do this vital work without your support.
Andrew Cutler is the interim editor of The Observer.
