Saturday, June 22, 2013

Willamette Week Scoops Oregonian Again

If you have been following the unfolding of the story of the Oregonian's cut to four day home delivery, the excellent reporting of Willamette Week stands out.

Willamette Week gave a heads up on the coming change almost a week before the Oregonian announced its own news.

Though one understands holding back on personal news until you are ready to reveal the information, it doesn't say much for your reporting skills to wait almost a week after someone else has revealed it and then have to update the news article on your own news.
Oregonian Media Group to launch with digital, print products
By OregonLive.com
on June 20, 2013 at 10:00 AM, updated June 21, 2013 at 7:41 PM
[emphasis added]
Aaron Mesh at Willamette Week sniffed out the coming change on the basis of a trademark application.
On May 17, the Oregonian Publishing Co. filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for protection of a new brand name: Oregonian Media Group.
The delay between the May 17 application and Mesh's June 14 story might indicate an inside source at the Oregonian was a big help in putting the pieces together.  Still, its impressive that Mesh latched on to the slim hint in the "new brand name".

Willamette Week has scooped the Oregonian big time on the Neil Goldschmidt scandal which resulted in a Pulitzer Prize, the Sam Adams/Beau Breedlove affair and cover up, and just last year the assault story regarding mayoral candidate Jefferson Smith. The Oregonian's home delivery story scoop is just another success for Willamette Week's superior investigative reporting skills, but this time embarrassing the Oregonian for not being on top of its own story.

6 comments:

MAX Redline said...

Hey, The Oregonian scooped WW with their ground-breaking series on how a potato from eastern Oregon becomes a french fry!

T. D. said...

Heh! Good one, Max! And funny for Richard Read to win the Oregonian a pulitzer for that. http://www.pulitzer.org/archives/6243

It was for "explanatory" reporting rather than "investigative" reporting. Maybe uncomfortable investigation of their political favorites is just hard for the Oregonian.

MAX Redline said...

I remember thinking, "Has the bar really sunk that low?" Well, yeah.

There was a reason why Neil went running to The Oregonian editorial board a day or so before Jaquiss blew him apart in the pages of Willy Week.

T. D. said...

Max, you're right. The Oregonian is part of the old crony political network in Oregon. Mostly they cover for Dems, but for some of their Republican favorites too.

MAX Redline said...

Back in the days of the Packwood "scandal" (by comparison to what goes on these days, that was nothing), The Oregonian had a slogan that went: "If it matters to Oregonians, it's in The Oregonian".

Of course, it was Washington Post who broke that story. I used to have a bumper-sticker that read, "If it matters to Oregonians, it's in the Washington Post".

T. D. said...

Max, you were the one who helped increase my understanding that the Oregonian has been bi-partisan good old boys for selected Republicans too. :-)