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About The Chronicle : Creswell & Cottage Grove. (Creswell, Ore.) 2019-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 29, 2019)
4 — THE CHRONICLE THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 2019 OPINION Expansion, magazine increases exposure Owner / Publisher Noel Nash noel@chronicle1909.com Co-Owner Denise Nash denise@chronicle1909.com Executive Editor Erin Tierney erin@chronicle1909.com Sales & Marketing Director Cheryl Richard cheryl@chronicle1909.com Creative Director Andrew von Engel andrew@chronicle1909.com Editor, Graphic Designer Jen Blue jen@chronicle1909.com Community Editor Gini Davis gini@chronicle1909.com Entertainment Editor Ron Hartman ron@chronicle1909.com Contributors Aliya Hall Victoria Stephens Dana Merryday Yaakov Levine Pat Edwards Richard Heyman Phone: 541-895-2197 Fax: 541-895-2361 Online: Chronicle1909.com The Chronicle (USPS permit 2781) is published each Thursday by Nash Publishing Group, LLC. The office is located at 34 W. Oregon Ave. PO Box 428, Creswell, Ore., 97426. Periodicals Postage paid at Creswell, Ore. Subscriptions are nonrefundable, but are transferable. POSTMASTER Address changes: The Creswell Chronicle, PO Box 428 Creswell, OR, 97426 Member of the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association EDITORIAL: Email editorial inquiries to Erin at erin@chronicle1909.com. Deadline for community contributions is Friday at noon, unless noted otherwise. Deadline for calendar submissions is Monday at noon to be inserted in that week's Thursday edition. For best results, please submit calendar items at least two weeks before the date of the event. Please include date, name of event, time, loca- tion and contact infor- mation. ADVERTISE: Deadline to place an advertisement is Monday at noon to be included in that week’s edition. Email inquiries and infor- mation to Cheryl at cheryl@chronicle1909. com. PHOTOS: The Chronicle’s staff takes photos of many special events and mile- stones in peoples’ lives. You can order prints from our photographers by contacting us at 541-895-2197. Prices are determined in consulta- tion with the photogra- pher, and depend upon the size and number of photos. Purchase a copy of the magic, memorable moments in your life. FILE PHOTO/MIKAI VON ENGEL The big picture: While Harry Holt Park is the center of Creswell's universe, the entire town is in the middle of the southern Willamette Valley, and a true gateway to Springfield, Cottage Grove and Oregon's wine country. Creswell at heart of coverage cross the country, newspa- pers are being taken out at the knees by the media conglomerates of this world. A recent merger of Gannett and Gatehouse created the largest newspaper company in the coun- try, with more than 1,000 papers. Shortly after the buyouts, hometown journalists are axed. Production is shipped off to another state. Businesses lose an essential means of local promo- tion. The city’s narrative is lost. The community’s voice is stifled. Then, it turns into a whisper. What’s left is a skeleton of a newspa- per, strung together carelessly by syndi- cated content and newswire bylines – a rag one would prefer not to use even in a birdcage. “Local” is the lifeblood of journal- ism; when extracted, everyone loses. We see it happening all around us. The community suffers because their strug- gles, successes and all the inbetweens go undocumented. Advertisers leave because there is no content on the pages to keep readers engaged. How disorienting it must be to have no means of knowing what is happening directly around you. That’s a tough pill to take – both from a journalistic and a community perspective. Good thing none of us have to swal- low that pill. The methods of the mass media-hold- ing companies are for the birds; The A Chronicle is running in the opposite direc- tion, and having a helluva time doing it. In the past ERIN six months, The TIERNEY Chronicle has under- gone a whirlwind of changes, always with the intention to better serve our readers. The Chronicle newsroom has been renovated to attract local passersby and equipment has been modernized to produce work more efficiently. Our staff has more than doubled with people who actually live in, interact with, and care about the communities they serve. But in order to demonstrate effec- tive journalism, in order for advertis- ers to thrive, the paper needs to be seen by more eyes – an effective method for these intrinsically linked communities. Think about it. We’re all connected – Creswell, Cottage Grove, Springfield. There is value in building a strong network of neighboring communities that we all interact with in some way or another; whether it be for work, visiting friends and family, shopping or recre- ating, there is no doubt that Creswell is part of an interconnected regional economy. Only about 20% of people who work in Creswell also live in the city; fewer people both live and work in Creswell than commute into or out of the city. Data from the most recent U.S. Census Bureau (2015) shows that 16% of the workforce population living in Creswell works in Springfield; mean- while, 9% of people working in Creswell commute from Springfield, and those numbers are expected to become higher. Commuting plays an important role in Creswell’s economy, because employ- ees in Creswell are able to access work from people living in the city, and in the broader Willamette Valley. As the aphorism goes, a rising tide lifts all boats. How cool is it that these stories about local people, businesses, events and opportunities are now being seen by three times as many readers? How great is it that we can now give exposure to the Creswell Wellness Center to readers in Springfield, or Cornbread Cafe to readers in Cottage Grove? Rest assured, Creswell is not losing its hometown newspaper; we are growing so that we can better serve our readers. This week, we start our journey branch- ing out into Springfield, but Creswell is not losing its hometown newspaper. We give, we get, we give, but we will never take away from our heartbeat. Erin Tierney is the Executive Editor of The Chronicle. To our a dve r- tising family, St a r ti ng wit h t h is CHERYL we ek’s RICHARD paper and conti nui ng forward we are jumping up our game big time! One thou- sand weekly papers will be placed in grocery racks from Eugene to Springfield to Cottage Grove, in addition to those distributed in Creswell. The other 1,000 or so will be mailed to hand-picked neigh- borhoods in Springfield. This is big news for every advertiser we have: Tailored placement! Our goal is to grow in subscribers and targeted delivery and rack placement is the best way. You will see lots of positive changes in this week’s paper as well. We want our neigh- bors to know that they have a community paper doing local news right. Now Springfield, Creswell, Cottage Grove and Pleasant Hill have a paper focusing on hyperlocal news. The Emerald Valley Magazine will come out the first part of November. This full-color lifestyle magazine will be designed as a flip- book, with two covers: Half of the magazine is devoted to Springfield and the other half of the magazine and cover will focus on Creswell, Cottage Grove and Pleasant Hill. There's a pattern here: Southern Lane County is our coverage area. The magazine will be 64 pages, and we will be print- ing over 10,000 copies. Combining the two maga- zines gives advertisers a huge distribution area. The magazines will be placed in the 3,500 mailed news- papers, as well as placed in area grocery store racks, 25 area hotels, and 75-plus businesses in Springfield, Creswell, Cottage Grove and Pleasant Hill. Thank you for partnering with The Chronicle! Cheryl Richard is the Sales & Marketing Director for The Chronicle and General Manager of Emerald Valley Magazine. LET TER TO THE EDITOR Rent is not too high Dear Editor, Frequently I hear the complaint, “rents are too high,” or “housing prices are too high.” Are the people making these claims thin k ing clearly? The reason housing costs are difficult for people to afford is often because wages are too low. Wages are low because too few workers will organize to demand and receive fair pay. Citizens hope the govern- ment will subsidize housing or control rents. Be responsible: organize! Ed Gunderson Creswell
