Pamplin Media Group announced Monday that it has sold The Portland Tribune and two dozen other Oregon publications to Carpenter Media, a Mississippi company that has been buying up small publications across the country.
“Due to age and health reasons, it made sense to pass the company on to someone else who will carry on the tradition of balanced journalism, the old-fashioned way,” Robert Pamplin, the chain’s owner, said in a written statement. He did not disclose terms of the transaction.
Pamplin, an 82-year-old industrialist, launched The Portland Tribune as a semiweekly newspaper in 2001. The Pamplin chain grew to include print and online publications in small communities from Newberg to Prineville.
“We have a much larger, much stronger media company behind us. It puts us on a much more even playing field with a lot of our competition,” said Brian Monihan, Pamplin Media’s president. He said he expects “belt tightening” under the new ownership but said that doesn’t necessarily mean laying off any of the company’s 110 employees.
Pamplin’s sale came the same day that another larger Oregon newspaper chain, EO Media, announced it is cutting jobs and scaling back publication at its papers. EO Media’s holdings include the East Oregonian, The Bulletin newspaper in Bend and The Daily Astorian.
Robert Pamplin is chairman and CEO of the R.B. Pamplin Corp., which owned Ross Island Sand & Gravel in Portland and other businesses across the country.
But there have been growing indications that the Pamplin business empire is experiencing financial pressure. Ross Island Sand & Gravel shut down its concrete division in 2019 and Willamette Week has reported that Pamplin and his businesses have faced various state and federal tax liens in recent years.
Pamplin’s newspapers have been insulated from its owner’s financial troubles because he runs each of his businesses separately, according to Monihan. He credited Pamplin with establishing another voice in Oregon journalism.
“Our communities are really better off because of his investment,” Monihan said.
Carpenter Media has announced a string of acquisitions recently including Black Press, a Canadian firm that owned The Herald newspaper in Everett, Wash., The Star-Advertiser in Honolulu, the Juneau Empire in Alaska and many smaller publications. In April, Carpenter announced the acquisition of a small Louisiana paper and last month it bought 10 small newspapers in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi.
Carpenter says it now has 180 publications in the U.S. and Canada.
CEO Tim Prince wrote on The Portland Tribune’s website that Carpenter wants to maintain Pamplin’s commitment to community journalism.
“We take the responsibility of continuing their work seriously and will strive to uphold the high standards he has set for all of us in the industry,” Prince said.
Community journalism has been struggling for well over a decade, squeezed by the shift to online news and the consolidation of the online advertising market. Scores of publications, including The Oregonian/OregonLive, cut jobs in the years during and after the Great Recession and many ceased publishing altogether.
Some larger papers appear to be on more stable footing over the past several years but small papers have continued to struggle. Carpenter Media hasn’t detailed a business plan behind its recent buying spree and Monihan said he’s in the dark, too, about how the new owners plan to make a profit.
But he said he’s optimistic that Carpenter will bring the financial resources and community focus to help the papers thrive.
“They’re going to be backing us for the long term,” Monihan said. " It’s going to be a good day for the readers in our communities, for what we’re going to be able to do going forward.”
In addition to the Portland Tribune, Monday’s sale includes The Herald-Pioneer in Canby, the Sandy Post, the Clackamas Review, the Sherwood Gazette, the Columbia County Spotlight, Southwest (Portland) Community Connection, Estacada News, The (Portland) Bee, The News-Times in Forest Grove, The (Washington County) Times, the Gresham Outlook, West Linn Tidings, the Lake Oswego Review, the Wilsonville Spokesman, the Madras Pioneer, the Woodburn Independent, the Newberg Graphic, the Beaverton Valley Times, Oregon City News, and the Central Oregonian in Prineville.
-- Mike Rogoway covers Oregon technology and the state economy. Reach him at mrogoway@oregonian.com or 503-294-7699.
Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe