Willamette Week

Willamette Week was founded in 1974 by Ronald A. Buel,{{Cite news |date=October 17, 1974 |title=Weekly Newspaper Planned |work=Oregon Journal |pages=2}} who served as its first publisher.{{cite news|last=Bellotti|first=Mary|title=Alternative success story|newspaper=Portland Business Journal|date=April 25, 1999|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/1999/04/26/story7.html|access-date=August 28, 2012|archive-date=June 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610203740/http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/1999/04/26/story7.html|url-status=live}} It was later owned by the Eugene Register-Guard, which sold it in the fall of 1983 to Richard H. Meeker and Mark Zusman,Nicholas, Jonathan (January 9, 1984). "Free, and fresh, weekly". The Oregonian, p. B1. who took the positions of publisher and editor, respectively. Meeker had been one of the paper's first reporters, starting in 1974, and Zusman had joined the paper as a business writer in 1982. Meeker and Zusman formed City of Roses Newspaper Company to publish WW and a sister publication, Fresh Weekly, a free guide to local arts and entertainment. WW had a paid circulation at that time, with about 12,000 subscribers.

A major change was made in January 1984, when Fresh Weekly was merged into WW, the paper's print run was increased to 50,000 and paid circulation was discontinued, with WW thereafter being distributed free. WW increased circulation to 90,000 copies by 2007. Circulation has declined to 50,000 by March 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wweek.com/news/2020/03/14/portland-mercury-halts-print-editions-amid-coronavirus-shutdowns/|title=Portland Mercury Halts Print Editions Amid Coronavirus Shutdowns|last=Mesh|first=Aaron|date=March 14, 2020|website=Willamette Week|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-28|archive-date=2020-03-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200317132923/https://www.wweek.com/news/2020/03/14/portland-mercury-halts-print-editions-amid-coronavirus-shutdowns/|url-status=live}}

In June 2015, Richard Meeker stepped down as Willamette Week{{'}}s publisher, after more than 31 years in the position.{{cite news|title=WW Has A New Publisher|url=http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-33327-ww_has_a_new_publisher.html|access-date=March 3, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150615005547/http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-33327-ww_has_a_new_publisher.html|archive-date=June 15, 2015|work=Willamette Week|date=June 11, 2015}}{{cite news|last1=Meeker|first1=Richard H.|title=To Our Readers [editorial]|url=http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-24911-to_our_readers.html|access-date=July 6, 2015|work=Willamette Week|date=June 17, 2015|page=5|archive-date=June 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150620102112/http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-24911-to_our_readers.html|url-status=live}} Editor Mark Zusman succeeded him as publisher, while also retaining the editorship.{{cite news|last1=Walker|first1=Mason|title=Willamette Week publisher steps down|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/blog/2015/06/willamette-week-publisher-steps-down.html|access-date=July 6, 2015|work=Portland Business Journal|date=June 12, 2015|archive-date=July 7, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707201746/http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/blog/2015/06/willamette-week-publisher-steps-down.html|url-status=live}} Meeker planned to continue working for the City of Roses Newspaper Company, WW's owner.

{{expand section|date=March 2018}}

Prior to his death in 2010, cartoonist John Callahan's long-running comic "Callahan" appeared weekly in the paper, for almost 30 years.{{cite news|title=A fresh look and future memorial to John Callahan at Legacy Good Samaritan Park (photos)|newspaper=The Oregonian|date=July 19, 2017|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2017/07/legacy_good_samaritan_park_and.html|access-date=March 3, 2018|archive-date=March 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304231422/http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2017/07/legacy_good_samaritan_park_and.html|url-status=live}}

Since 1984, the paper has been free; as of 2007 over 80% of its revenue was generated through display advertising.{{Cite web|url = http://www.editorandpublisher.com/PrintArticle/At-Age-33-Willamette-Week-Has-Best-Year-Ever-For-Display-Ads-Publisher-Says|title = At Age 33, 'Willamette Week' Has Best Year Ever For Display Ads, Publisher Says|date = November 16, 2007|access-date = February 20, 2015|website = Editor & Publisher|archive-date = February 20, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150220164312/http://www.editorandpublisher.com/PrintArticle/At-Age-33-Willamette-Week-Has-Best-Year-Ever-For-Display-Ads-Publisher-Says|url-status = live}} For 2007, its revenue was expected to be about $6.25 million, a four or five percent increase over 2006, a growth that occurred in spite of a significant decline in classified advertising that the publisher attributed to competition from Craigslist. Its pre-tax profit in 2006 was around 5%, a third to a half of what large mass-media companies require.

Notable stories first reported by WW include:

• In 2004, making public Neil Goldschmidt's long-concealed sexual misconduct with a 14-year-old girl. Goldschmidt, a former Oregon governor, was mayor of Portland at the time of the abuse. After Willamette Week contacted him for comments regarding its upcoming story about that alleged misconduct, Goldschmidt went ahead and confessed to the relationship in an interview published in The Oregonian. That interview ran prior to Willamette Week{{'}}s report appearing in print, and was intended to preempt the story's publication.{{cite news| last=Boulé| first=Margie| url=http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/01/neil_goldschmidt_sex_abuse_vic.html| work=The Oregonian| title=Neil Goldschmidt's sex-abuse victim tells of the relationship that damaged her life| date=January 31, 2011| access-date=November 17, 2013| archive-date=February 22, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222204738/http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/01/neil_goldschmidt_sex_abuse_vic.html| url-status=live}} However, the alternative weekly did finally get the scoop, breaking the Goldschmidt story first on its website.{{cite web | first = Nigel | last = Jaquiss | author-link = Nigel Jaquiss | title = The 30-Year Secret | newspaper= Willamette Week | date = May 12, 2004 | url = http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-3198-the_30_year_secret.html | access-date = August 20, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110817123210/http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-3198-the_30_year_secret.html | archive-date=August 17, 2011 | url-status=live}} Nigel Jaquiss won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting for his work on that story.{{Cite web |date=2005 |title=The 2005 Pulitzer Prize Winners - Investigative Reporting |url=http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2005-Investigative-Reporting |access-date=February 20, 2015 |website=The Pulitzer Prizes |archive-date=February 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150225125205/http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2005-Investigative-Reporting |url-status=live }}
• In 2008, Willamette Week's Beth Slovic drew a conclusion that former senator Gordon Smith employed undocumented workers at his frozen-foods processing operation in Eastern Oregon while acknowledging that she has no definitive proof.{{Cite web|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/mapesonpolitics/2008/09/willamette_week_raises_illegal.html|title=Willamette Week raises illegal immigration issue at Gordon Smith's frozen-food plant|last=Mapes|first=Jeff|date=September 10, 2008|website=oregonlive|language=en|access-date=2020-04-28|archive-date=2022-05-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220518223052/https://www.oregonlive.com/mapesonpolitics/2008/09/willamette_week_raises_illegal.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Slovic|first=Beth|title=Señor Smith|date=September 10, 2008|newspaper=Willamette Week|url=http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-9517-sentildeor_smith.html|access-date=November 17, 2013|archive-date=June 20, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140620142857/http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-9517-sentildeor_smith.html|url-status=live}}

{{Wikinews|Portland, Oregon mayor admits to sexual relationship he previously denied}}

• In 2009, reporting that then-City Commissioner Sam Adams engaged in a sexual relationship with a legislative intern, Beau Breedlove. Rumors of a relationship between the two men had circulated during Adams' campaign for mayor, but Adams denied any sexual relationship. Only after Willamette Week contacted Adams for comment on an upcoming story did he admit publicly that there had been a sexual relationship. However, he stipulated that there had been no relationship between them until after Breedlove turned 18. Adams said he'd previously lied about the relationship in order to avoid feeding negative stereotypes of gay men as somehow predatory.{{cite news|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2009/01/adams_says_hell_return_to_work.html|title=Sam Adams decides to stay put; can Portland move on?|last=Griffin|first=Anna|date=January 25, 2009|newspaper=The Oregonian|access-date=November 17, 2013|archive-date=October 28, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131028074546/http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2009/01/adams_says_hell_return_to_work.html|url-status=live}}
• In 2015, then-Governor John Kitzhaber's fiancee, Cylvia Hayes, confirmed Willamette Week{{'}}s report that she married an 18-year-old Ethiopian immigrant in 1997 in exchange for a $5,000 payment so that he could keep his residency to attend school in United States.{{cite news | last1 = Johnson | first1 = Kirk | last2 = Paulson | first2 = Michael | title = Oregon Governor and Fiancée Walked Tangled Path to Exit | newspaper = The New York Times | date = February 16, 2015 | page = A1 | orig-year = published online February 15 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/16/us/politics/oregon-governor-john-kitzhaber-and-fiancee-cylvia-hayes-walked-tangled-path-to-exit.html | access-date = August 3, 2016 | archive-date = December 14, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151214041419/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/16/us/politics/oregon-governor-john-kitzhaber-and-fiancee-cylvia-hayes-walked-tangled-path-to-exit.html | url-status = live }}

Journalists, writers and artists who have worked at Willamette Week include:

• Mindy Aloff, dance critic and essayist
• Byron Beck, blogger
• John Callahan, cartoonist
• Katherine Dunn, author
• Phil Keisling, former Oregon Secretary of State{{cite web|title=Phil Keisling|url=https://www.pdx.edu/cps/phil-keisling|website=Hatfield School of Government: Center for Public Service|publisher=Portland State University|access-date=July 15, 2015|archive-date=July 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150716075021/https://www.pdx.edu/cps/phil-keisling|url-status=live}}
• Susan Orlean, author

• The Santa Fe Reporter, also published by Richard Meeker and Mark Zusman from 1997 to 2024.{{Cite web |last=Narvaiz |first=Matthew |date=2024-08-14 |title=Santa Fe Reporter sells to former Albuquerque City Councilor Pat Davis |url=https://www.abqjournal.com/business/santa-fe-reporter-sells-to-former-albuquerque-city-councilor-pat-davis/article_29014c5e-5a53-11ef-867d-eb96fadb032b.html |access-date=2024-08-15 |website=Albuquerque Journal |language=en}}
• Indy Week (Durham, N.C.), also published by Meeker & Zusman since 2012.{{Cite web |last=Sorg |first=Lisa |date=2012-08-22 |title=Steve Schewel announces sale of Independent Weekly |url=https://indyweek.com/api/content/c742cb2d-c96c-5943-abe1-0dea6ddfc09b/ |access-date=2019-10-20 |website=INDY Week |language=en-us}}

{{reflist|2}}

• [http://wweek.com/ Willamette Week official site]
• [http://www.aan.org/gyrobase/Aan/ViewCompany?oid=oid%3A99 Profile from Association of Alternative Newsweeklies]

{{City of Roses Newspaper Company}}

{{Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association}}

Category:1974 establishments in Oregon

Category:Alternative weekly newspapers published in the United States

Category:Newspapers published in Portland, Oregon

Category:Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association

Category:Newspapers established in 1974

Category:Pulitzer Prize–winning newspapers

Category:Free newspapers