Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (July 31, 2019)
A14 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM NEWS WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2019 EO Media Group buys Bend Bulletin By PHIL WRIGHT STAFF WRITER The auction lasted 15 minutes Monday and ended with the EO Media Group buying the Bend Bulletin. The $3.65 million win- ning bid also covered the price for the Bulletin’s sis- ter newspaper, the Redmond Spokesman. EO Media Group beat two out-of-state compet- itors, Adams Publishing Group out of Greeneville, Tennessee, and Rhode Island Suburban Newspapers Inc., which did not send a repre- sentative to the auction but made almost $68,000 on the sale. Heidi Wright, EO Media Group’s chief operating offi- cer, said the the company appreciates the opportunity to continue Oregon own- ership of The Bulletin and Redmond Spokesman. “It’s reassuring for the future of community news- papers when a small inde- pendent company like EO Media Group can prevail, even when going up against the big companies that are buying up newspapers non- stop around the country,” she said. Western Communica- tions, the Bulletin’s for- mer parent company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January and is selling all of its assets. EO Media Group bought two of those assets in June at auc- tion — The Observer in La Grande and the Baker City Herald. The Bulle- tin and Spokesman acquisi- tions brings the company’s total number of newspapers and journals to 14. Wright explained why the purchases make sense for the fami- ly-owned business. “First, the vibrant econ- omy of Central Oregon, coupled with a fresh start for The Bulletin and Redmond Spokesman, bodes well for Bend Bulletin Photo, File The EO Media Group put in a winning bid of $3.65 million Monday to acquire the Bend Bulletin and the Redmond Spokesman. The successful bid beat out and Adams Publishing Group out of Greeneville, Tennessee, and Rhode Island Suburban Newspapers Inc., which did not send a representative to the auction. “First, the vibrant economy of Central Oregon, coupled with a fresh start for The Bulletin and Redmond Spokesman, bodes well for the future of these newspapers” Heidi Wright, EO Media Group’s chief operating officer the future of these newspa- pers,” she said. “Second, we believe readers in Cen- tral Oregon will support our mission of producing con- tent that is relevant, credible and reflective of the commu- nities we serve.” Kathryn B. Brown, vice president of EO Media Group, credited Bend locals for support. “We appreciate the assis- tance of so many in the Bend community who encouraged us to consider the acquisi- tion of The Bulletin and the Redmond Spokesman, and who were willing to support us in our efforts,” she said. “It quickly became clear to our board that these newspa- pers are an excellent invest- ment for our company, and are a good fit with our oper- ations throughout Oregon.” Bend Mayor Sally Rus- sell in a letter expressed her personal support for the EO Media Group to prevail. “Balanced, factual, local reporting is invaluable for the healthy community I am committed to helping grow and thrive,” she said. “I believe that among the bidders that have identified, EOMG is the only one that offers the local perspective I feel is so critical. Our city would not be well-served by having our local, daily newspaper controlled by absentee managers of huge conglomerates whose only commitment to our city is financial.” Some Bend supporters provided financial backing, including The Bend Founda- tion. Trustee Mike Hollern, said the nonprofit views this as a worthy investment in a company with a long history in Oregon delivering valu- able news. “That’s a really important part of the whole American dream to have an unbiased local press,” he said. He also said he could not speak for other inves- tors, but the Bend Founda- tion does not have an edito- rial stake in this action. Steve Forrester, EO Media Group president and CEO, said the purchase marks more than the begin- ning of a new publishing venture. “For our family owner- ship, acquisition of the Bend Bulletin also carries emo- tional and historical mean- ing,” he said. “The friend- ship between the Chandler family and the Forrest- er-Bedford-Brown fami- lies goes back more than 50 years. Our essential chal- lenge is to bring new life to Bend’s storied daily newspaper.” Adams Publishing owns more than a hundred small dailies, weeklies and shop- pers, including the Herald & News in Klamath Falls and the Lake County Examiner in Lakeview. Emily Cureton with Ore- gon Public Broadcasting reported Rhode Island Sub- urban Newspapers Inc., or RISN, owns newspapers in Rhode Island, Arizona and California, and dozens of the businesses use the same address on regulatory paper- work — an office suite in a strip mall in rural Illinois. Corporate filings show the humble office space is connected to Horizon Publi- cations, a subsidiary of bank- rupt conglomerate Hollinger Inc., once one of the larg- est media companies in the world. Hollinger became infamous in the mid-2000s for the scale and scope of theft committed by its exec- utives, according to OPB. An investigation on behalf of shareholders and submit- ted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission found Hollinger executives siphoned more than $400 million from their compa- nies, largely by collecting fees on bogus non-compete contracts. That led to fraud convic- tions in 2007 for Hollinger leaders Conrad Black and F. David Radler. A key Hollinger executive impli- cated in some of the trans- actions, Roland McBride, is the vice president of RISN. According to court doc- uments, RISN negotiated a $67,500 “break-up fee” with Western Communications to induce RISN to summit a bid within a certain time frame, and RISN as the first bidder “acted as a catalyst or ‘stalking horse’ to attract higher and better offers” for the Bend newspaper and thus deserves payment for maximizing the sale. The sale proceeds will cover the cost of the fee. The bidding started with the EO Media Group’s $2.5 million. Wright helmed the company’s bidding against Mark Adams, president and CEO of Adams Publish- ing. RISN sent no one to the auction. Brown said most of the bids went up in $50,000 increments, and at $3.65 million Adams was out and told the EO team congrat- ulations. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Trish Brown approved the sale during a hearing following the auc- tion. She also gave until Aug. 12 for unsecured creditors to oppose RISN’s break-up fee. If no one comes for- ward, the company collects the money. The purchase includes the printing press and equip- ment in Bend but not the building or property. Kath- ryn Brown said EO Media would lease the site for the time being and look for new space. She also said EO Media will look at how to fold the Central Oregon papers into the organization and soon will reach out to the employees at the Bulle- tin and Spokesman. Kathryn Brown said they aim to close the deal by the end of August.