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East Oregonian

U.S. local/regional, center-right-leaning editorial tradition (limited opinion content)

Owned byCarpenter Media Group, a Mississippi-based chain of local newspapers led by Chairman Todd Carpenter. It bought EO Media Group, the paper's longtime owner, in late 2024.
FundingMainly local advertising, legal and public notices, subscriptions and print/digital circulation revenue. Since the sale it also depends on a for-profit chain's finances. Before the sale, EO Media Group cited rising postal and health care costs and falling ad revenue.
On the administrationmostly neutral

Background

The paper was founded on Oct. 16, 1875, by M.P. Bull as a weekly Democratic-aligned paper in Pendleton. It became a daily in 1888. It is the only Umatilla County newspaper from the 19th century to have published without suspensions or title changes. For most of the 20th and early 21st centuries it was held by EO Media Group (formerly East Oregonian Publishing Company), a family-controlled company associated with the Aldrich and Forrester families. EO Media also published about two dozen newspapers and magazines in Oregon and Washington. In June 2024 the company announced major cuts, said it would look for a buyer, and moved the East Oregonian from two print days a week to one. Carpenter Media Group announced its agreement to buy EO Media in October 2024. Layoffs followed less than two months later. The East Oregonian became a regional paper for northeastern Oregon, carrying news from five sister papers that went online-only: the La Grande Observer, Blue Mountain Eagle, Hermiston Herald, Wallowa County Chieftain and Baker City Herald. Its coverage focuses on local government, agriculture, the Umatilla Tribes, schools, the Pendleton Round-Up and regional business. The region votes Republican, and the paper's opinion pages have usually reflected local, rural and moderate-to-conservative views. I could not verify its recent endorsement record, so that characterization is approximate. Its main recent issue is shrinking newsroom capacity, which limits depth of coverage.

Sources

  1. EO Media Group (Wikipedia)
  2. Carpenter Media Group to acquire EO Media Group (NNA)
  3. East Oregonian publisher to be acquired by Carpenter Media Group (KGW)
  4. East Oregonian (Wikipedia)
  5. East Oregonian (Library of Congress)
  6. Portland Tribune to stop publishing print edition, trim staff (OPB)

Profile compiled 2026-10-17; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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