The Wallowa County Chieftain has a rich history, but sadly, we have made the decision to suspend print publication of the newspaper.

Beginning July 1, the Chieftain will be an online publication, with news of Wallowa County printed in the East Oregonian and mailed to Chieftain subscribers. The new EO will be published once a week on Wednesdays, and will be a regional publication, covering Umatilla, Morrow, Union, Wallowa, Baker and Grant counties.

Observers of the newspaper industry in America will understand that the demise of the Chieftain is far from unique, and some may be surprised that it survived this long.

Starting with the inception of Craigslist and other online marketplaces in the early 2000s, newspapers began seeing an erosion of classified advertising revenue, which had provided a reliable source of income for all newspapers for generations.

In most newspaper business models, the costs of producing, printing and distributing newspapers has been heavily subsidized by both display advertising and classified advertising. This is why the cost to subscribe or buy a copy of your local newspaper has traditionally been much lower than the cost to produce it.

Like so many other businesses, newspapers were rocked by the Great Recession starting in 2008. Newspapers that survived after 2010 continued to face the challenges of technological change. With the rise of social media, local newspapers lost both advertising revenue and subscribers.

“I get my news from Facebook” has frequently been the reason given for the cancellation of newspaper subscriptions. This is frustrating for journalists to hear, as Facebook “news” often originates with journalists who are paid employees of local newspapers.

Our older readers may remember the pre-internet days when an avid reader in Northeastern Oregon would subscribe to a number of newspapers to get a variety of perspectives, and most would be delivered to your door by young carriers on bikes. The Oregon Journal and The Oregonian provided statehouse coverage from Salem, as well as news from all around the state. The East Oregonian covered multiple counties in Northeastern Oregon, as well as carrying national and international news via The Associated Press. And of course, the Chieftain covered true “local news” from all over Wallowa County.

Now, most of us experience a barrage of news, available at all hours of the day and night. Newspapers, television, radio, text messages, emails and the internet in general — especially social media — all compete for our attention. The sheer volume of information coming at us can be overwhelming.

In March 2000, the East Oregonian Publishing Co. (now EO Media Group) acquired the Chieftain from the Swart family. For a number of years, this was a profitable publication but more recently, the newspaper has often operated at a loss, supported by other EO Media Group publications.

Now, in mid-2024, after exploring a number of options, it is clear that there is no profitable path forward for the Chieftain. Our company can no longer afford to print the newspaper at a loss. However, we will continue to employ a reporter to cover Wallowa County, and that reporting will appear online at www.wallowa.com, with some of this news also in the weekly print edition of the East Oregonian.

We are so appreciative of the Chieftain’s subscribers, readers and advertisers who have hung in there on this bumpy ride over the past decades of change.

We salute everyone who ever worked for the Chieftain — reporters, editors, graphic designers, advertising sales reps, customer service staff, delivery drivers and carriers alike. This newspaper has touched many lives and contributed to the community in so many ways, and your work and the Chieftain’s legacy will live on.

Historians who want to learn about Wallowa County will rely on the Chieftain’s archives, and there they will find a treasure trove of information.

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