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OPINION
East Oregonian
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Publisher
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Managing Editor
TIM TRAINOR
Opinion Page Editor
MARISSA WILLIAMS
Regional Advertising Director
MARCY ROSENBERG
Circulation Manager
JANNA HEIMGARTNER
Business Office Manager
MIKE JENSEN
Production Manager
OUR VIEW
Same product,
new delivery
T
he end of an era in
As the publisher and an
newspaper delivery has
owner of the East Oregonian,
arrived. As of Nov. 1,
I’d love to see our circulation
the print version of the East
and advertising revenue
grow so that I can hire
Oregonian will be delivered
exclusively by mail.
more journalists and cover
The reasons for this
Umatilla and Morrow
change are both financial and Kathryn counties in greater depth than
we do now. However, in a
practical: Carrier delivery is
Brown
region with slow population
far more costly than USPS
Comment
delivery, and we have had
growth, growing circulation
ever-increasing difficulty
is a challenge. And in an
finding reliable carriers.
environment where some of our
biggest advertisers have gone out of
There are deeper reasons for this
change as well, which are affecting
business over the years (car dealers
the entire newspaper industry in the
in Pendleton, K-mart, Albertson’s,
United States. The EO is not the
Pendleton Grain Growers, JC
first daily newspaper to transition to Penney and Del’s to name a few),
all-mail same-day delivery, and we
growing advertising revenue is also
a challenge.
certainly won’t be the last.
For over a century, the business
After our last fiscal year, I was
faced with the very real need to cut
plan for the EO was pretty simple.
expenses. After examining other
Revenue = subscription income +
options, such as dropping delivery
single copy sales + classified and
days, I concluded that converting to
display advertising revenue. The
mail delivery was the best option.
major expenses were newsprint,
It affords us significant savings and
employee salaries and benefits, and
press equipment maintenance. Since allows us to continue publishing five
days a week.
newspapers were the main — and
Since we switched from afternoon
often the only — source of news
delivery in 2012, our readers have
in many communities, there was a
become accustomed to morning
captive audience, willing to pay for
delivery. (We made that change
the news and advertising that only
when The Oregonian stopped home
their local paper could provide.
delivery in Eastern Oregon.) For
But then, a new delivery method
many who don’t get their mail until
for news arrived in the late 1990s:
later in the day, this will take some
Online delivery.
getting used to.
In the last decade of the 20th
If you need your news fix
century, newspapers had to invest in
first thing in the morning, please
the computer equipment, software
subscribe to our email newsletter
and training to make publishing
at www.eastoregonian.com/eo/
online possible — while still
newsletters so you can get the
producing a print newspaper on
headlines and read the news online
printing presses using technology
first thing in the morning. Also, our
that hasn’t changed much in the last
e-edition is posted online in the early
hundred years.
morning hours each publication day.
With the internet came Craig’s
If a print newspaper is the only
List, eBay and Amazon — new
way you want to read, you can
ways of buying and selling that
still find the EO in single copy
did not depend on newspaper
locations throughout both counties.
advertising.
Most locations in Hermiston and
The internet also brought the
Pendleton will have papers by 6:30
news of the world to everyone
a.m., but outlying areas will not
with a computer, or in recent years,
get their papers until the mail is
everyone with a smartphone.
delivered to that location.
In many ways, the internet has
We know this will alter (again)
broadened the average citizen’s
the reading habits for some of our
knowledge of the world, but may
loyal print subscribers, and we
have disconnected them from their
local communities. Across America, hope you understand our aim is to
continue bringing high-quality daily
readers have dropped their paid
news coverage to Umatilla and
newspaper subscriptions. Plenty of
Morrow counties. We see the times
people perceive news of their local
city council meeting or school board changing, and believe this is the best
way to keep pace with them.
election to be far less interesting
■
than entertainment news, gossip and
Kathryn Brown is publisher of the
scandals coming out of Hollywood
East Oregonian
or memes on Facebook.
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board of publisher
Kathryn Brown, managing editor Daniel Wattenburger, and opinion page editor Tim Trainor.
Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not
necessarily that of the East Oregonian.
OTHER VIEWS
Ten reasons to stay calm about
those Russia Facebook ads
T
he latest excitement in the
Michigan and Wisconsin, including
Trump-Russia investigation is
non-battleground states like Texas,
a set of Facebook ads linked to
were targeted,” the government official
Russia, about 3,000 in all, that some of
familiar with the ads said, via email.
the president’s adversaries hope will
6) Very few ads specifically targeted
prove the Trump campaign colluded
Wisconsin or Michigan. “Of the
with Russia in the 2016 election.
hundreds of pre-election ads with one
“A number of Russian-linked
or more impressions, less than a dozen
Facebook ads specifically targeted
ads targeted Michigan and Wisconsin
Byron
Michigan and Wisconsin, two states
combined,” the official said.
York
crucial to Donald Trump’s victory
7) By and large, the ads targeting
Comment
last November,” CNN reported
Michigan and Wisconsin did not run
recently. Some of the ads, the network
in the general election. “Nearly all of
continued, appeared “highly sophisticated in
these Michigan and Wisconsin ads ran in 2015
their targeting of key demographic groups
and also ran in other states,” the official said.
in areas of the states that turned out to be
8) The Michigan and Wisconsin ads were
pivotal” to Donald Trump’s victory.
not widely seen. “The majority of these
In addition, the report noted, the ads
Wisconsin and Michigan ads had less than
seemed tailor-made for the Trump campaign.
1,000 impressions,” the official said.
“The ads employed a series of divisive
9) The Michigan and Wisconsin ads (like
messages aimed at breaking through the
those everywhere else) were low-budget. “The
clutter of campaign ads online, including
buy for the majority of these Michigan and
promoting anti-Muslim messages, sources
Wisconsin ads (paid in rubles) was equivalent
said,” CNN reported, suggesting that anti-
to approximately $10,” the official said.
Muslim content could have been designed to
10) The ads just weren’t very good. The
complement candidate Trump’s message.
language used in some of the ads “clearly
Put aside whether Michigan and Wisconsin shows the ad writer was not a native English
were in fact “crucial” to Trump’s victory. (He
speaker,” the official said. In addition, the set
would still have won the presidency even if
of ads turned over by Facebook also contained
he had lost both.) The theory is that Russians
“clickbait-type ads that had nothing to do
could not have pulled off such “highly
with politics.” And in general, the official’s
sophisticated” targeting by themselves and
view is that the ads simply were not terribly
therefore may have had help from the Trump
sophisticated, contrary to how they have been
campaign or its associates.
portrayed.
But is that the whole story? Not according
None of this proves anything about the
to a government official familiar with the
Facebook part of the Trump-Russia affair. It
Facebook ads, who offers a strikingly different doesn’t prove there was no collusion, and it
assessment. What follows is from the official
certainly doesn’t prove there was. But it does
and from public statements by Facebook itself: suggest this particular set of ads might not be
1) Of the group of 3,000 ads turned over
a very big deal.
to Congress by Facebook, a majority of the
In an Oct. 4 news conference, the Senate
impressions came after the election, not
Intelligence Committee chairman, Republican
before. Indeed, in an Oct. 2 news release,
Sen. Richard Burr, did not play up the
Facebook said 56 percent of the ads’
Facebook angle. “I think if you look from
impressions came after the 2016 vote.
10,000 feet, the subject matter of the ads
2) Twenty-five percent of the ads were
was — seems to have been to create chaos in
never seen by anybody. (Facebook also
every group that they could possibly identify
revealed that in the news release.)
in America,” Burr said.
3) Most of the ads, which Facebook
Burr elaborated, adding, “If we used solely
estimates were seen by 10 million people in
the social media that we have seen, there’s no
the U.S., never mentioned the election or any
way that you can look at that and say that that
candidate. “The vast majority of ads run by
was to help the right side of the ideological
these accounts didn’t specifically reference
chart and not the left. Or vice versa. They
the U.S. presidential election, voting or a
were indiscriminate.”
particular candidate,” Facebook said in a Sept.
Burr noted that he has no objection to
6 news release.
Facebook releasing the ads publicly. Certainly
4) A relatively small number of the
doing so would go a long way toward clearing
ads — again, about 25 percent — were
up the public’s understanding of the issue.
geographically targeted. (Facebook also
Like everything else in the Trump-Russia
revealed that on Sept. 6.)
affair, people need to know what happened.
5) The ads that were geographically
■
targeted were all over the map. “Of those that
Byron York is chief political correspondent
were targeted, numerous other locales besides
for The Washington Examiner.
YOUR VIEWS
U.S. taxpayers should
not add Puerto Rico
How sad to see the devastation in Puerto
Rico. They have now been hit with two
terrible storms, leaving the island in near total
ruin. The U.S. is struggling now to pay for
our own disasters in Texas and Florida but
is now making an attempt to help in Puerto
Rico as well. The president has flown there
and promised to help rebuild this island
because, of course, Puerto Rico is a U.S.
“territory.” It is not a state, although the
island has lobbied hard for that status for
many years.
These folks are U.S. citizens but don’t
vote in our elections. They are exempt from
paying U.S. federal income tax but do pay
into Social Security and Medicare. A half
million of them have migrated to the U.S. in
the past decade, and the island has 12 percent
unemployment. The U.S. taxpayer subsidizes
Puerto Rico to the tune of $10 billion each
year.
Puerto Rico is a tiny island 1,000 miles
from Miami. The U.S. occupied this island
after the Spanish-American War in 1898 and
the population was granted citizen status
in 1917. They have a governor and elect
a commissioner who represents the island
in our Congress but has no vote. There is a
military base there, and Puerto Ricans do
serve in the U.S. military.
However, it is difficult to see any strategic
military significance or benefit this little
Island offers the U.S. This past June, Puerto
Rico had another referendum on their
political preferences and voted over 97
percent for statehood. The final decision is up
to Congress, but they have rejected that status
a number of times in the past.
Americans are the most generous people
on the planet and do more to help other
countries than the rest of the world combined.
But these storms are not over. They will
return. These natural disasters will once again
ravage our own country, but we will be also
be responsible for rebuilding Puerto Rico
over and over again in the future.
Don’t you wonder how many disasters our
government (sorry I meant the U.S. taxpayer)
can afford — in addition to those hitting
Puerto Rico? We are in debt about $21 trillion
now, so I guess we can always raise the debt
ceiling again and borrow another couple
trillion. I mean really — who’s counting?
David Burns
Pendleton
PFLAG reaches out on
National Coming Out Day
For far too long members of the lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender and queer commu-
nity have had to hide in fear, living their
lives “closeted” to protect their jobs, homes,
families and relationships. Constant fear of
being rejected by friends and loved ones, as
well as the community of which they are a
part, has led to many of them remaining in
the proverbial closet. National Coming Out
Day encourages all LGBTQ people and their
allies to stand proud of who they are and to
fight for a more equal tomorrow.
Twenty-nine years ago, National Coming
Out Day was created by Rob Eichberg and
Jean O’Leary as a result of the 500,000
person March on Washington DC for Lesbian
and Gay Rights. The coming together of
thousands of LGBTQ citizens and supporters
energized many to establish this holiday.
Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians
& Gays promotes the health and well-being
of gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual
persons and their families and friends
through support, education and advocacy
in communities all over the United States.
We are currently 400 chapters strong and
growing.
Unbeknownst to many, PFLAG has been
part of Pendleton and surrounding area since
the late 1980s. PFLAG Pendleton envisions
a world where diversity is celebrated and all
people are respected, valued, and affirmed
inclusive of their sexual orientation, gender
identity, and gender expression. With a strong
desire to help people live a healthy and happy
life PFLAG Pendleton will be available on
Wednesday, October 11 to take calls from
anyone looking for personal coming out
support, support for a family member, or for
parents or family on how to support someone
who has just come out.
Currently one out of every two Americans
has someone close to them who is gay or
lesbian. For transgender people, that number
is only one in 10. Coming out — whether it
is as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer
or allied — STILL MATTERS. When people
know someone who is LGBTQ, they are far
more likely to support equality under the law.
Your call is confidential and being
answered by a PFLAG member who cares
about you and your community. The number
to call is 541-966-8414. You can also find
us on Facebook- PFLAG Pendleton Oregon
Chapter or email at pflag.pendleton.or@
gmail.com
PFLAG Pendleton meeting information
can be found in the East Oregonian under
the community calendar or local meetings.
Thank you.
Vickie and Lonnie Read
Pendleton
LETTERS POLICY
The East Oregonian welcomes original let-
ters of 400 words or less on public issues and
public policies for publication in the news-
paper and on our website. The newspaper
reserves the right to withhold letters that ad-
dress concerns about individual services and
products or letters that infringe on the rights
of private citizens. Submitted letters must be
signed by the author and include the city of
residence and a daytime phone number. The
phone number will not be published. Un-
signed letters will not be published. Send let-
ters to managing editor Daniel Wattenburger,
211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or
email editor@eastoregonian.com.