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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (April 21, 2022)
Opinion A4 Thursday, April 21, 2022 OUR VIEW When farmers came through for the U.S. hen COVID-19 arrived in the U.S. from China a little more than two years ago, it set off a tsunami of uncer- tainty among the 328 million Americans, none of whom had ever been through anything like it. Researchers scrambled to understand the strange new virus even as it infected vast swaths of the population. While many cases were mild — or even presented no symptoms at all — others were fatal. In the midst of this crisis, farmers, ranchers, processors and farmworkers were all called upon to feed the nation. By any measure, it was not easy. The ever- changing regulatory landscape made what was already a diffi cult job even tougher. In the end, U.S. agriculture performed spectacularly. Fears of food shortages disap- peared, and food boxes and government bene- fi ts were increased so no American had to worry about eating. All of this happened against a backdrop of record unemployment, workplace upheaval for those who still had a job and, above all else, uncertainty as advice, directives and regulations changed, sometimes from day to day. Even after vaccines were found to be eff ec- tive and widely available, suspicions remained and some people refused the life preserver. This was their right, but it also diminished a means of stemming the tide of COVID. Some critics say the government — and pri- vate employers such as farmers and processors — didn’t do enough to protect employees. With the benefi t of 20/20 hindsight, they say they should have been provided with more masks, plastic dividers and other tools. Some critics have faulted agencies such as OSHA for not being aggressive enough, while others said they were too aggressive. In a time when facts were few and fears were many, these agencies were doing their best. In 2020, the Oregon Farmworker COVID-19 Study interviewed upward of 300 farmworkers. They said that even in the early months of the pandemic 77% of their co-workers wore masks all of the time and 68% said they or their foreman had received training on avoiding COVID. In much of Oregon, the pandemic was not an isolated incident. Wildfi res destroyed the homes of many farmworkers, often forcing them to tem- porarily live in close proximity to one another, even while they continued to work on the farms. But for the most part, they and others were able to protect themselves and to harvest the crops that fed the nation. This should be a point of pride for them and the many others who overcame hardship during the past two years to keep the economy moving. They also deserve a sincere “thank you” from all of us for jobs well done. W EDITORIALS Unsigned editorials are the opinion of The Observer editorial board. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of The Observer. LETTERS • The Observer welcomes letters to the editor. We edit letters for brevity, grammar, taste and legal reasons. We will not publish con- sumer complaints against busi- nesses, personal attacks against private individuals or comments that can incite violence. We also discourage thank-you letters. • Letters should be no longer than 350 words and must be signed and carry the author’s name, address and phone number (for verifi - cation only). We will not publish anonymous letters. • Letter writers are limited to one letter every two weeks. • Longer community comment columns, such as Other Views, must be no more than 700 words. Writers must provide a recent headshot and a one-sentence biography. Like letters to the editor, columns must refrain from complaints against businesses or personal attacks against private individuals. Submissions must carry the author’s name, address and phone number. • Submission does not guarantee publication, which is at the discre- tion of the editor. Oregon journalists are experimenting with new way to report on governor’s race LES ZAITZ OTHER VIEWS O regon voters, you’re about to benefi t from a novel eff ort to report on the governor’s race. Between the Republicans and the Democrats, more than two dozen candidates are on the primary ballot for governor. Most news organizations don’t have the reporters, the space or the time to report on them all. Yet voters deserve to know some- thing about them besides what they see in mailers, campaign ads and Voters’ Pamphlets. Journalists found a way to pro- vide at least some useful informa- tion once ballots go out April 27. Soon, you can expect to start seeing news outfi ts large and small pub- lish answers the candidates gave to common questions. This media approach results from a determined eff ort to consult voters. Earlier this year, a series of listening sessions — “Let’s Talk — provided voters across the state a chance to talk to the media. Our job was to listen. We wanted to know what voters would like to get from the press. Two vital “asks” emerged. One was that voters wanted the press to avoid picking winners based on volume and type of coverage. They didn’t want Oregon journalists to just key in on those who could raise a lot of money. Let the voters decide who warrants consideration, they said. The second “ask” was for more information about issues and topics that matter to Oregonians. Campaign contributions? Not much. Political scandals? Yawn. From that emerged the idea of pulling together newsrooms in common cause to deliver more infor- mation that Oregonians want. We had to act fast. We settled on this approach just last month. Journalists around the state would fi rst pick broad topics of importance to Oregon and its people. Then they would work to craft ques- tions to be presented to every can- didate, no matter how they were polling, regardless of how much money they had or had not raised. In a matter of days, reporters and editors settled on the topics: climate change and the environ- ment, crime and safety, education, economy and housing. Questions under each topic fl owed in from newsrooms all over the state. A corps of editors tackled the job of reducing the list to just three questions per topic and revising the questions for clarity and uniformity. That work was undertaken by Joe Beach of Capital Press, Erik Neu- mann of Jeff erson Public Radio in Ashland, Rachael McDonald of KLCC in Eugene, Danielle Jester of the Lake County Examiner in Lakeview, John Schrag of Pamplin Media Group, K. Rambo of Street Roots, Andrew Cutler of the East Oregonian in Pendleton and Dana Haynes of Portland Tribune. I joined in as well. The Agora Journalism Center in Portland, part of the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication, kept the communi- cations fl owing and fi nally took on the task of getting the 15 questions out to all the candidates. A sampling: • The Oregon governor’s offi ce is usually reactive when it comes to dealing with drought – sending relief money to aff ected counties or pro- viding water deliveries in communi- ties after wells have gone dry. What specifi c steps would you take to pro- vide long-term solutions for years of increasing drought? • Some rural counties with small populations and small tax bases struggle with adequate law enforce- ment funding. What steps would you take to address this chronic problem? SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION Subscription rates: Monthly Autopay ...............................$10.75 13 weeks.................................................$37.00 26 weeks.................................................$71.00 52 weeks ..............................................$135.00 █ Les Zaitz is a veteran editor and investigative reporter, serving Oregon for more than 45 years. STAFF SUBSCRIBEAND SAVE NEWSSTAND PRICE: $1.50 You can save up to 55% off the single-copy price with home delivery. Call 800-781-3214 to subscribe. • Coming out of the pandemic, we are seeing unprecedented stress levels in educators, students and parents. As governor, what steps would you take to address this stress and keep our public K-12 schools from imploding? Once candidates respond (they have until Friday, April 22), all the answers to each question will be placed together, question by ques- tion. They will be edited only for length for those who exceed the limit. (If you are backing a par- ticular candidate, nudge them to respond.) The state’s largest news organiza- tions, including The Oregonian and Oregon Public Broadcasting, elected not to participate. That’s fi ne — they have far more resources than the rest of us. But the lineup of media organi- zations that so far are partners in the project represent newsrooms large and small, from big cities to rural outposts. Pamplin Media Group has 26 newspapers all over the state, from Forest Grove to Prineville. EO Media Group is par- ticipating and has 15 newspapers from Astoria to Baker City. Other newsrooms include Jeff erson Public Radio, KLCC, Lake County Exam- iner, Portland Record, Street Roots, Columbia Gorge News, Grants Pass Daily Courier, Keizertimes, KGW, Portland Monthly, Willamette Week, Malheur Enterprise, Salem Reporter, Seaside Signal, The Way by OR360, The Times-Journal and Yachats News. Voters, I hope, will be eager to read the results. I know I am. There may be political gems out there that aren’t obvious from campaign fi nance reports and headline counts. And if we succeed in getting more voters interested and engaged, then all those newsrooms have done their duty to provide the kind of public service so vital to our state. Anindependent newspaper foundedin1896 www.lagrandeobserver.com Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, Oregon 97801 Published Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays (except postal holidays) by EO Media Group, 911 Jefferson Ave., La Grande, OR 97850 (USPS 299-260) The Observer retains ownership and copyright protection of all staff-prepared news copy, advertising copy, photos and news or ad illustrations. They may not be reproduced without explicit prior approval. COPYRIGHT © 2022 Phone: 541-963-3161 Regional publisher ....................... Karrine Brogoitti Home delivery adviser.......... Amanda Turkington Interim editor ....................................Andrew Cutler Advertising representative ..................... Kelli Craft Assistant editor .................................... Ronald Bond Advertising representative .................... Amy Horn News clerk ........................................Lisa Lester Kelly National accounts coordinator ...... 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