Legislation seeks ways to avert ‘news deserts’ in Oregon

McGovern is a sophomore at Summit High School in Bend, where he is a writer for The Pinnacle newspaper. “I believe that access to media is as important to democracy as the right to vote,” McGovern said Thursday, Feb. 9, in video testimony to the House Rules Committee.

Walters is in her first term in the Oregon House after serving as a councilor and mayor in West Linn, where the police chief and a sergeant were fired in connection with the wrongful arrest of a Black man in a case that drew national attention. The chief had ordered an investigation as a favor to a friend who was the man’s employer in Portland.

She referred to the West Linn Tidings — part of Pamplin Media Group, a news partner of the Oregon Capital Insider — and its coverage of other crises involving the city.

“We had a reporter who was on the beat,” Walters said in her in-person testimony. “She was not just investigating and sharing the critical information we needed to work through these crises, but also proactively reaching out to the community to tell the stories we needed to know. We need local journalists to hold our local governments and elected officials accountable.”

Walters is a sponsor of the bill.

What it does

The bill would set aside an as-yet unspecified amount for the Oregon Department of Administrative Services. The money would enable the Agora Journalism Center at the University of Oregon and the Fund for Oregon Rural Journalism, a nonprofit with startup money from EO Media Group (also a partner of the Oregon Capital Insider), to offer assistance grants. The bill also would require recommendations for the 2025 Legislature about how best to aid local journalism.

The original bill also proposed a tax credit, subtracted directly from taxes owed, for donations to local media organizations. But new tax credits would have to go through a joint House-Senate committee, and given that credits reduce total tax collections, legislators approve few of them.

Editor’s note: Among those providing testimony in support of HB2605 was Columbia Gorge News’ publisher and owner Chelsea Marr. The News is a fully independent newspaper serving the Gorge.