The State of Newspapers

It’s no secret that over the last 20 years revenue streams to newspapers have dwindled, causing reductions in staff, local coverage, and a lowering of readership trust. But the story is darker than that: the real crisis is the fact that during this period of time Oregon has seen a 40 percent reduction in community newspapers in the statewide association, leaving many Oregon cities in a news desert – a town with no newspaper, or being served by a ghost newspaper – published from a larger community, usually devoid of local news.

The OPIP Story

Oregon Public Information Partnership, re-birthed from Oregon Public Affairs Network, is using its 501(c)(3) status to assist Oregon independent community newspapers in developing an additional channel of revenue through donations to specific journalistic projects. OPIP further seeks to align itself with other organizations that are focused on developing additional solutions for the sustainability of newspapers.

Solutions

One solution we champion is newspaper sustainability legislation on either the state or federal level, giving qualified community newspapers refundable tax credits tied to news staff salaries. Other ideas considered at the federal level include tax benefits to people who subscribe to and businesses that advertise in newspapers. OPIP provides a vehicle for people to make tax deductible contributions to news operations of our partner newspapers. You can find more information about on this OPIP website.