For this week’s edition, I’m handing the reins for a bit over to Phil Wright, the editor of the regional edition of the East Oregonian. He writes:
Dear readers,
We are a month into the East Oregonian publishing as a regional newspaper. This remains a work in progress, and one of the major shifts we’ve made in this transition is in our newsrooms.
Rather than working as individual silos, we’re working much more like a regional newsroom to cover Northeastern Oregon.
So instead of news teams dedicated to certain topics, as we had with the former Saturday edition, anyone in our newsrooms can pitch an idea for a regional story and take the lead on that. We hold a weekly news meeting with all our East Oregonian Media Group “east side” staff to kick around those kinds of ideas and help shape up stories.
As we continue this shift, we continue to notice things we need to tweak.
For example, a photo caption in the Hermiston Herald before might not have needed to say if a street was in Hermiston because all of its readers would probably know that. Now readers in La Grande and Enterprise might read a Hermiston story, so we need to make sure we catch those gaps.
Our stories online include a “tagline” — a little bit of information at the end of the story about how to contact a reporter. You can find that same information in every print edition in the “publication box” at the bottom of A4. So if you read a report or a feature from Observer reporter Isabella Crowley or our intern Elie Graham (more about her in a future newsletter), and want to contact them, please do.
Your feedback is not just something we appreciate; we consider it vital.
If you have any questions about what and how we do what we do, please ask. The same goes for any feedback. You can email me at editor@eastoregonian.com.
Phil Wright
Editor, East Oregonian
Thanks, Phil. Remember: If you have other story ideas or comments about the Observer (or anything about the East Oregonian as well) you can reach me at editor@lagrandeobserver.com. (I might not be able to get back to you immediately, but I try to respond to every email.)
In the meantime, I wanted to call your attention to some recent stories in the Observer you might have missed:
• Crowley had a fascinating feature about the onset of “virtual fences” — electronic barriers intended to keep cattle where they’re supposed to be — throughout Eastern Oregon.
• Crowley also wrote about a Union County ordinance that would allow accessory dwelling units in areas zoned for rural residential. It’s intended to be part of the answer to the region’s housing crisis, but not everybody is a fan.
• The Union County Fair is underway, so we decided to check out the Pee Wee Rodeo, a fair highlight. We came back with a delightful photo gallery from the event.
In the meantime, also remember that your digital subscription access has been expanded, at no additional cost to you, to include all of EO Media’s other Eastern Oregon websites, including the Chieftain, the East Oregonian, the Hermiston Herald, the Baker City Herald and the Blue Mountain Eagle.
For all digital access:
• Simply register your account on every site you wish to read with the same email address and password you currently use.
• Once you’ve registered, enter your username and password to enjoy the full range of content on that news site.
• You should not have to login again unless you log out, clear history or experience software updates.
• Save your password when prompted by your browser and if you are inadvertently logged out, your browser can fill in your login and password for you. (Only use this option on your personal digital devices.)
To view the latest e-editions, be sure to register your account and sign in to www.eastoregonian.com.
Sign up for e-newsletters from each website by going to the “Email lists” link on your account dashboard for each site.
If you have any questions or need assistance, contact us at 800-781-3214 or email support@eomediagroup.com.
If you haven’t already, this is a good time to take a moment to register your subscription for digital access of The Observer. Call 800-781-3214 to talk to one of our customer service staff members, who will be happy to walk you through the process. It’s easy, takes just a few moments to get set up and allows you to take advantage of our e-edition, app and website delivery along with your print subscription. (The online edition also features a big selection of puzzles available only to subscribers.)
And let me clue you in on a new feature on our website that should help subscribers who are experiencing problems logging in. On the right side of the top navigation bar, you’ll see a “?” Click on it, and you’ll go to our new Help Center, designed specifically to help subscribers who are experiencing problems logging in. Log-in problems are a pain, and we’re hoping this feature helps you if you experience those.
Finally, let me take this opportunity to once again thank the Observer’s subscribers: It would be impossible for us to do this vital work without your support.
Mike McInally is the associate editor of the Observer and the editor of the Wallowa County Chieftain. You can email him at editor@lagrandeobserver.com.
