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| Jackson County, Oregon (Google map; click to enlarge) |
UPDATE, March 3: "EO Media Group has opted to change the name of its start-up newspaper in Medford, saying it faced legal threats from the former owner of the defunct Mail Tribune newspaper," reports The Oregonian's Jeff Manning. "The Rogue Valley Tribune on Wednesday became the Rogue Valley Times."
"Why will it succeed where another failed?" Dudley asks. EO President Steve Forrester "said it has a proven approach and journalistic mission." He said the Mail-Tribune, which had tried to add video content, “became a curious product,” with a confusing front page.
Now begins "an old-fashioned newspaper war," Dudley writes. "EO Media is hiring a newsroom staff of 14 in Medford, which is relatively big in the era of ghost newspapers owned by hedge funds," while the Daily Courier is adding three Medford reporters and counting on its more local ownership, five-day-a-week frequency and carrier delivery (the Tribune will be mailed) to win the battle. Forrester says EO will “have a longer time horizon than the publicly traded organization,” but both are family-owned.
"It’s rare for dailies to fail without at least merging with another paper or perhaps becoming a weekly," Dudley notes. "It’s also unheard of nowadays for multiple newspapers to replace them, according to Penelope Abernathy, the journalism professor who led research documenting America’s news deserts." Abernathy, a visiting professor at Northwestern University in Illinois, told him, “I’m not aware of any other situation like this, where you’ve had both a journalistic and business commitment made this swiftly, when a daily has closed.”
"Why will it succeed where another failed?" Dudley asks. EO President Steve Forrester "said it has a proven approach and journalistic mission." He said the Mail-Tribune, which had tried to add video content, “became a curious product,” with a confusing front page.
Now begins "an old-fashioned newspaper war," Dudley writes. "EO Media is hiring a newsroom staff of 14 in Medford, which is relatively big in the era of ghost newspapers owned by hedge funds," while the Daily Courier is adding three Medford reporters and counting on its more local ownership, five-day-a-week frequency and carrier delivery (the Tribune will be mailed) to win the battle. Forrester says EO will “have a longer time horizon than the publicly traded organization,” but both are family-owned.
"It’s rare for dailies to fail without at least merging with another paper or perhaps becoming a weekly," Dudley notes. "It’s also unheard of nowadays for multiple newspapers to replace them, according to Penelope Abernathy, the journalism professor who led research documenting America’s news deserts." Abernathy, a visiting professor at Northwestern University in Illinois, told him, “I’m not aware of any other situation like this, where you’ve had both a journalistic and business commitment made this swiftly, when a daily has closed.”
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