OPINION
4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 2015
The Daily Astorian recycles more than newsprint
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
Pressman Jim Brotherton checks a Daily Astorian newspaper as it comes off the press Thursday.
How your local
newspaper helps
Clatsop County
prosper
Y
By JOHN S. PERRY
ou know us as The Daily Astorian,
the newspaper that arrLYes ¿Ye
days a week and publishes dailyasto-
rian.com, a website
devoted to news of
Clatsop County.
Most of you also
recognize that our
company publish-
es several other
newspapers on the
coast: the Chinook
John S.
Perry
Observer, Seaside
Signal,
Cannon
Beach Gazette, Coast River Business
Journal and — down south —
Oregon Coast Today.
Here’s something that may sur-
prise you: We issue more than $2
million in paychecks each year to
44 employees on the coast. These
are journalists, pressmen, sales rep-
resentatives, bookkeepers and tech-
nicians. We also pay a small army
of independent contractors another
$400,000 to contribute articles and
deliver our newspapers in this area.
Most of those hard-earned pay-
checks are spent in Clatsop County
— on mortgages, rent, food, autos and
other goods and services. They recycle
through the local economy, creating
other jobs and stimulating commerce.
Our company also spends another
$250,000 to cover the health insur-
ance needs of our employees on the-
coast. That provides them with a lev-
el of security when they need to see
a local physician, visit urgent care
or undergo treatment at Columbia
Memorial, Providence Seaside or
Ocean Beach hospitals.
This year, in addition to contribut-
ing to employees’ 401(k) retirement
plans, owners of EO Media Group,
the DA’s family-owned parent com-
pany, have approved a profit share.
W riter’s
N otebook
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
Some of the publications published by EO Media Group on the coast.
This lump sum bonus will be added
to the retirement accounts of our em-
ployees as acknowledgment of their
contributions to our success these
past 12 months.
As with most businesses, payroll
and benefits account for the lion’s
share of expense. The cost of news-
print pales in comparison.
Our contributions to the local
economy go deeper than paychecks.
We do business with many Clatsop
County companies, most of which
are locally owned. Here are a few:
• When our press requires elec-
trical supplies or repairs, we call on
Wadsworth Electric.
• Englund Marine & Industrial
Supply is the principal sources of
parts for our press and inserting
equipment.
• City Lumber is a go-to resource
for building supplies.
• P & L Johnson Mechanical han-
dles our building’s heating and cool-
ing needs.
• Our clamp truck was purchased
at Lektro.
• Walter E. Nelson Co. provides
us with most of our janitorial sup-
plies.
• When we spring a leak, Terry’s
Plumbing gets the call.
Clatsop County also benefits from
the property taxes we pay for our
properties on Exchange Street and
Franklin Avenue in Astoria. Those
taxes help support our schools and
cities, making this area a good place
to live and raise a family. That, in
turn, helps our company when we
need to recruit talent from outside
the area.
But paying taxes and making pay-
roll is not enough. A newspaper can
only be as successful as the commu-
nities it serves. That requires leader-
ship.
From its earliest days, The Daily
Astorian has taken the lead in help-
ing Clatsop County prosper. The
most public example is the Liberty
Theater restoration. DA editorials
championed the idea. The DA’s par-
ent company and its owners contrib-
uted generously to the campaign and
We issue more
than $2 million in
paychecks each year
to 44 employees
on the coast.
helped to secure other contributors.
The newspaper absorbed the admin-
istrative costs of the nonprofit for
almost a decade by producing grant
applications and managing arrange-
ments for board meetings. Michele
Tila, a DA employee at the time, was
effectively the nonprofit’s executive
secretary.
More recently, the DA made a
$3,000 commitment to the new pub-
lic library in Seaside. And when an
arsonist struck Astoria in the 1990s,
we led the drive to create a reward
fund that was instrumental in finding
the culprit. Our commitment is on-
going. Each year, the DA contributes
more than $30,000 annually to non-
profit organizations with cash and
in-kind donations.
Our employees are communi-
ty leaders as well. They volunteer
their free time for organizations
such as Clatsop Animal Assistance,
Columbia
Memorial
Hospital
Foundation, the Crab & Seafood
Festival and our various chambers
of commerce and downtown associ-
ations.
The growth of social media like
Facebook and the head-spinning rev-
olution of digital publishing have
challenged our company as it has
most other businesses. But we em-
brace this challenge. We believe —
now more than ever — that there is
a need for a community news organi-
zation to make sense of local history
as it is written and to provide an es-
sential link between local businesses
and customers.
In short, our goal is to reflect, con-
nect and stimulate Clatsop County.
And deliver those paychecks each
month.
Based in Salem, John S. Perry is
chief operating officer of EO Media
Group, the parent corporation of The
Daily Astorian.
STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher • LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor
BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager
• CARL EARL, Systems Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
• DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager
Founded in 1873