The Pamplin Media Group (PMG) is a media conglomerate owned by Carpenter Media Group and operating primarily in the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Robert B. Pamplin, Jr. founded the company in 2001 and sold it to Carpenter in 2024.[1][2] As of 2019, the company owns 25 newspapers and employs 200 people.[3]
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Media |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Founder | Robert B. Pamplin, Jr. |
Area served | Portland metropolitan area |
| Owner | Carpenter Media Group |
Number of employees | 200 |
| Website | pamplinsubscribe |
Each chain writes and edits its own stories and shares them with each other and several subscribers, including newspapers in Medford, Corvallis, and Albany.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
History
The Portland Tribune newspaper, founded by Pamplin in 2001, is the largest newspaper in the group. PMG also includes a group of newspapers formerly known as Community Newspapers, Incorporated, serving the Portland area. Most of them are published once a week. The company launched the Hillsboro Tribune in September 2012.[11]
As of 2009, it owned newspapers in Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, and Columbia counties.[12]
On January 8, 2013, it bought five newspapers from Eagle Newspapers, Inc. in the Portland area (Canby Herald, Wilsonville Spokesman, Molalla Pioneer, The Newberg Graphic, and the Woodburn Independent), along with The Madras Pioneer in Central Oregon.[13][14] In June 2013, it also purchased the Central Oregonian from Eagle.[15]
In 2014, Pamplin partnered with the EO Media Group, which publishes the East Oregonian and several other weekly and monthly publications in Oregon, to form the Oregon Capital Bureau and publish the Oregon Capital Insider newsletter. The partnership came as the number of reporters assigned to state capital bureaus nationwide was on the decline.[16]
In 2018, the newly-launched Salem Reporter joined the bureau, and its publisher, Les Zaitz, was assigned to lead its three reporters. The Salem Reporter left the cooperative in early 2020 and Zaitz left the operation. The Oregon Capital Bureau as of late winter 2020 includes just the EO Media Group and Pamplin.[17]
On July 19, 2022, digital editor Geoff Pursinger published a column announcing that Pamplin would no longer host online comments on the articles published to its websites starting Aug. 1.[18]
In April 2023, Pamplin launched YourOregonNews.com, which aggregates stories from all of its newspapers.[19] That same year in June Pamplin agreed to sell its 39,000-square-foot Milwaukie-area building headquarters to Clackamas County for $11 million.[20] In August, the Clackamas Review switched from weekly to monthly publication and was renamed to the Milwaukie Review. The Oregon City News switched to monthly publication as well.[21]
In December 2023, Pamplin announced its Gresham printing plant would close the following month and about two dozen employees would lose their jobs. Pamplin will shift production of its newspapers to The Columbian's plant in Vancouver, Washington.[22]
Newspapers
| State | Service area | Newspaper |
|---|---|---|
| Oregon | Beaverton | Beaverton Valley Times |
| Sellwood (Portland) | The Bee | |
| Canby | Canby Herald | |
| Prineville | Central Oregonian[23] | |
| Clackamas | Clackamas Review | |
| Estacada | Estacada News | |
| Forest Grove | Forest Grove News-Times | |
| Hillsboro | Hillsboro Tribune | |
| Lake Oswego | Lake Oswego Review | |
| Madras | The Madras Pioneer | |
| Molalla | Molalla Pioneer | |
| Newberg | The Newberg Graphic | |
| Oregon City | Oregon City News | |
| Gresham | The Outlook | |
| Portland | Portland Tribune | |
| Sandy | Sandy Post | |
| Sherwood | Sherwood Gazette | |
| Scappoose | Columbia County Spotlight | |
| Southwest Portland | Southwest Community Connection | |
| Tigard/Tualatin | The Valley Times (Tigard/Tualatin) | |
| West Linn | West Linn Tidings | |
| Wilsonville | Wilsonville Spokesman | |
| Woodburn | Woodburn Independent | |
| Statewide | Business Tribune |