Recently announced staffing cutbacks and reductions in print frequency throughout the EO Media Group chain, including locally at the Rogue Valley Times, show how tough the news business is and how much advertising is a key component of success.

EOMG officials announced Monday that during the past year, advertising revenues have dropped and operating expenses have increased substantially. As a result, the company said it needs to make changes to stabilize its operations.

The Times will drop from three to two print editions each week starting July 1, and several newsroom employees will end their tenure at 2 E. Main St. in downtown Medford on June 28. Other, non-editorial positions at the Times also are affected by the changes. The impending departure of our co-workers hits hard.

Despite the cuts, the company says daily news coverage will continue online in its existing markets, and it will continue to employ journalists at all of its locations.

This is true at the Times, where a smaller staff will work with editors to continue the mission of providing readers with timely and important news. 

“As a family and owners of EO Media Group, we are committed to the continuity of our publications within the communities we have served for over a century,” Steve Forrester and Kathryn Brown, majority owners of EO Media Group, said in a statement.

The Times only began operation in February 2023 after EOMG came in and filled a void caused by the closure of the Mail Tribune in Medford. Within weeks, the Times was warmly accepted by new subscribers and people searching for local news on the internet and social media.

As of last week, the Times had secured more than 11 million page views since its inception almost a year and a half ago.

The Times newsroom has always operated at a torrid pace, with reporters, editors and photographers setting daily goals for publishing new content that is of interest to our readers and users, from local high school sports, to city and county government coverage, to arts and entertainment in our weekly GO! Rogue section, which is unaffected by the EOMG changes. Also unaffected is our weekly ScreenTime section that provides print and eEdition readers with local and national TV listings for the entire week.

Our commitment to our subscribers is unchanged, and in many ways, it is now even more crucial to continue to focus our energy on providing the news, sports and lifestyle coverage our readers and users expect and deserve.

In outlining the companywide changes, EOMG officials noted a third of Oregon’s newspapers have shuttered in the past 20 years, leading to news deserts in two counties and leaving 16 counties with a single news publication covering hundreds of square miles, according to Jody Lawrence-Turner, executive director of the Fund for Oregon Rural Journalism. Additionally, 68% of Oregon’s incorporated cities lack a local news source.

“Democracy is at risk and communities suffer when community-based reporting disappears,” she said.

Meanwhile, the industry still battles the perception that information should be free online.

“There’s a continued lack of understanding of the need to pay for good journalism,” said Dean Ridings, CEO of America’s Newspapers Foundation.

He said Google uses newspaper content without compensation, but the industry is seeking legislative change to correct that problem.

Bend Bulletin Publisher and CEO Heidi Wright offered this when the announcement was made Monday.

“While I’m encouraged by the philanthropic and legislative support of journalism beginning to take root across the country, they can’t solely be relied on to fix the journalism business model, especially in rural markets,” Wright said. “Small family-held media companies like EO Media have to adjust operations to the new realities of the industry in order to survive.”

Please support local journalism. If you haven’t subscribed to the Times, which can include digital-only or a print edition/digital subscription, we invite you to sign up at http://rv-times.com/subscribe or by calling us at 800-781-3214.