Newspaper Sustainability

It’s not news that the newspaper industry needs help to continue serving its communities with the news of the day. Over the last two decades more than 2,000 newspapers in the United States have closed their doors. The news is no better in the state of Oregon. More than 25 percent of small-town community newspapers have closed in the past 20 years. This has led to more than two thirds of incorporated cities in Oregon (164) lacking a local news source (leaving a news desert), according to the Fund for Oregon Rural Journalism.

Oregon Public Information Partnership offers short-term relief for newspapers who wish to take advantage of the organization’s 501(c) (3) status to draw community contributions to community journalism projects.

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 solutions and making a donation to a partner newspaper on this website. 

Read or listen to the challenges and solutions to newspaper sustainability in this speech by Seattle Times Publisher/CEO Frank Blethen. Blethen spoke to members of the European Union in Brussels in 2023.