Oregon Journal
Encyclopedia
The Oregon Journal was Portland, Oregon
's daily afternoon newspaper
from 1902 to 1982. The Journal was founded in Portland by C. S. Jackson
, the publisher of Pendleton, Oregon
's East Oregonian newspaper, after a group of Portlanders convinced Jackson to help in the reorganization of the Portland Evening Journal.
based in Pendleton
. Jackson renamed the paper the Oregon Journal. In his first editorial as publisher, he declared: "The Journal in head and heart will stand for the people, be truly Democratic and free from political entanglements and machinations, believing in the principles that promise the greatest good to the greatest number---to ALL MEN, regardless of race, creed or previous condition of servitude......It shall be a FAIR newspaper and not a dull and selfish sheet......(and) a credit to 'Where rolls the Oregon' country." Jackson continued as editor and publisher until his death in 1924. He was succeeded as publisher by his son, Phillip, who remained at the helm of the paper until his death in 1953.
The Journal competed with the state's major newspaper, The Oregonian
, touting itself as the "strong voice of the Oregon Country." The paper was involved in a number of early 20th century crusades for reform, including better control of Oregon timberlands, adoption of the initiative, referendum and recall laws, direct election of U.S. senators, for pure milk, and dredging of the Columbia River navigation channel to allow development of Portland as a major world port.
In 1947, the Journal became the first newspaper in the country to employ a helicopter on a regular basis to gather news photographs. Pictures taken from the helicopter, known as the "Newsroom Dragonfly," were prominent in the paper's pages. The Journals associate publisher, C.S. Jackson II, was killed when the helicopter, which he was piloting, crashed.
The Journals circulation peaked in 1948, with daily sales of 201,421 and Sunday circulation of 217,808. But the forces that led to the paper's demise many decades later were already at work. The death of the younger Jackson left the Journal without a family heir. In this era, afternoon newspapers began their decline due to the rise of television, changing commuting patterns and other forces. The paper's economic vitality was further sapped by a lengthy strike against both Portland newspapers that began in November 1959. The newspapers published a joint strike edition, but while separate publication of the Journal resumed the next year, its circulation never approached pre-strike levels.
's publisher S. I. Newhouse
for eight million dollars. This amount was twice the bid made by an Oregon group. Newhouse had acquired The Oregonian, Portland's morning daily, in 1950. Newhouse consolidated production and business operations of the two newspapers in The Oregonian's building while keeping their editorial staffs separate. As a result of the Newhouse acquisition, publication of the Journals Sunday edition was discontinued.
, has been on the National Register of Historic Places
since 1996.) The paper had outgrown that structure by the 1940s, and in 1948, the Journal moved to a three-block long structure on SW Front Avenue that had originally been constructed in 1933 as the Portland Public Market
. That building was the paper's home until the Newhouse acquisition in 1961. It was torn down in 1969 and is now the site of Tom McCall Waterfront Park
.
revenues. Most of its reporters and many of its features were moved into the revamped Oregonian. The final edition was published on September 4, 1982.
, father of Nike
co-founder Phil Knight
. Other key creative forces in the paper's final decades included Editor Donald Sterling Jr., columnists Dick Fagan (creator of Mill Ends Park
, the world's smallest park) and Doug Baker, Sports Editor George Pasero and prize-winning photographer David Hume Kennerly
.
Archives of the Journal are maintained by The Oregonian. Its legacy lives on in KOIN
, Portland's CBS
affiliate. It was an extension of KOIN radio (AM 970, now KUFO; and FM 101.1, now KXL-FM). On September 21, 1932 The Journal purchased its second station KALE. This is now KKPZ
. On March 30, 1946 KOIN was sold to Field Enterprises
, Inc., Marshall Field III, President. On June 6, 1948 KALE became KPOJ
standing for, Portland Oregon Journal. Also on this date KPOJ-FM was launched, which today is KUPL
. The stations were sold in 1961 to make way for the Journal's sale to The Oregonian.
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
's daily afternoon newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
from 1902 to 1982. The Journal was founded in Portland by C. S. Jackson
Charles Samuel Jackson
Charles Samuel "Sam" Jackson was a prominent newspaper publisher in the U.S. state of Oregon.Born in Deltaville, Virginia, Jackson went west in 1880, settling in Pendleton, Oregon...
, the publisher of Pendleton, Oregon
Pendleton, Oregon
Pendleton is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. Pendleton was named in 1868 by the county commissioners for George H. Pendleton, Democratic candidate for Vice-President in the 1864 presidential campaign. The population was 16,612 at the 2010 census...
's East Oregonian newspaper, after a group of Portlanders convinced Jackson to help in the reorganization of the Portland Evening Journal.
History
The Portland Evening Journal was first published on March 10, 1902. This newspaper began as a campaign paper owned by A. D. Bowen, with William Wasson as the first editor. However, the paper floundered and was being liquidated by July 1902. The Evening Journal, was then taken over by Jackson, who had been the publisher of the East OregonianEast Oregonian
The East Oregonian is a daily newspaper published in Pendleton, Oregon, United States and covering Umatilla and Morrow counties. The newspaper was established in 1875 as a weekly by M. P. Bull. In 1882, C. S. "Sam" Jackson purchased the EO. Within a year it had become a semiweekly, and in 1888,...
based in Pendleton
Pendleton, Oregon
Pendleton is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. Pendleton was named in 1868 by the county commissioners for George H. Pendleton, Democratic candidate for Vice-President in the 1864 presidential campaign. The population was 16,612 at the 2010 census...
. Jackson renamed the paper the Oregon Journal. In his first editorial as publisher, he declared: "The Journal in head and heart will stand for the people, be truly Democratic and free from political entanglements and machinations, believing in the principles that promise the greatest good to the greatest number---to ALL MEN, regardless of race, creed or previous condition of servitude......It shall be a FAIR newspaper and not a dull and selfish sheet......(and) a credit to 'Where rolls the Oregon' country." Jackson continued as editor and publisher until his death in 1924. He was succeeded as publisher by his son, Phillip, who remained at the helm of the paper until his death in 1953.
The Journal competed with the state's major newspaper, The Oregonian
The Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
, touting itself as the "strong voice of the Oregon Country." The paper was involved in a number of early 20th century crusades for reform, including better control of Oregon timberlands, adoption of the initiative, referendum and recall laws, direct election of U.S. senators, for pure milk, and dredging of the Columbia River navigation channel to allow development of Portland as a major world port.
In 1947, the Journal became the first newspaper in the country to employ a helicopter on a regular basis to gather news photographs. Pictures taken from the helicopter, known as the "Newsroom Dragonfly," were prominent in the paper's pages. The Journals associate publisher, C.S. Jackson II, was killed when the helicopter, which he was piloting, crashed.
The Journals circulation peaked in 1948, with daily sales of 201,421 and Sunday circulation of 217,808. But the forces that led to the paper's demise many decades later were already at work. The death of the younger Jackson left the Journal without a family heir. In this era, afternoon newspapers began their decline due to the rise of television, changing commuting patterns and other forces. The paper's economic vitality was further sapped by a lengthy strike against both Portland newspapers that began in November 1959. The newspapers published a joint strike edition, but while separate publication of the Journal resumed the next year, its circulation never approached pre-strike levels.
Sale to S.I. Newhouse
Although the will of C.S. Jackson's widow, Maria, had specified that the newspaper's stock should be transferred to its employees upon her death, the trustees of her estate challenged that decision in court. Eventually, the courts ruled that the provision was written in wishful, not binding language. Maria Jackson had bequeathed the bulk of her estate to a charitable foundation she established in the will. In 1961 the trustees, believing that losses from the strike could bankrupt the paper and deprive the foundation of much of its principal, sold the Journal to The OregonianThe Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
's publisher S. I. Newhouse
Samuel Irving Newhouse
Samuel Irving Newhouse may refer to:* Samuel Irving Newhouse, Sr. , publisher, founder of Advance Publications empire, which controls Condé Nast Publications* Samuel Irving Newhouse, Jr...
for eight million dollars. This amount was twice the bid made by an Oregon group. Newhouse had acquired The Oregonian, Portland's morning daily, in 1950. Newhouse consolidated production and business operations of the two newspapers in The Oregonian's building while keeping their editorial staffs separate. As a result of the Newhouse acquisition, publication of the Journals Sunday edition was discontinued.
Locations
The Journal was published at four downtown Portland locations during its 80-year history. From 1902 to 1912, it was headquartered in the Goodnough Building at Fifth and Yamhill Streets. In 1912, the newspaper moved to a 12-story building it had constructed at Southwest Broadway and Yamhill Streets. (The building, now known as Jackson TowerJackson Tower
Jackson Tower, formerly The Oregon Journal Building is a glazed terra-cotta historic office building in downtown Portland, Oregon. Located on the corner of Broadway and Yamhill Streets, it enjoys a prominent location adjacent to Pioneer Courthouse Square....
, has been on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
since 1996.) The paper had outgrown that structure by the 1940s, and in 1948, the Journal moved to a three-block long structure on SW Front Avenue that had originally been constructed in 1933 as the Portland Public Market
Portland Public Market
The Portland Public Market was a public market in Portland, Oregon, United States, built in 1933 at a widely-advertised cost of $1 million. Controversial and ambitious, it was never as successful as the Central Public Market, centered at southwest Fifth and Yamhill Streets, which it was intended to...
. That building was the paper's home until the Newhouse acquisition in 1961. It was torn down in 1969 and is now the site of Tom McCall Waterfront Park
Tom McCall Waterfront Park
Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park is a park located on the west bank of the Willamette River in downtown Portland, Oregon. It is , comprising 16 tax lots owned by the City of Portland....
.
Demise
The Journal never recovered the readership lost in the 1959 strike. Its circulation steadily declined through the 1960s and 1970s. In 1982 the Journal was shut down due to declining circulation and advertisingAdvertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
revenues. Most of its reporters and many of its features were moved into the revamped Oregonian. The final edition was published on September 4, 1982.
Other
The paper's last publisher was William W. KnightWilliam W. Knight
William W. Knight is a former Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.-References:...
, father of Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
co-founder Phil Knight
Phil Knight
Philip Hampson "Phil" Knight is an American business magnate. He is the co-founder and Chairman of Nike, Inc. He resigned as the company's chief executive officer in 2004, while retaining the position of chairman of the board...
. Other key creative forces in the paper's final decades included Editor Donald Sterling Jr., columnists Dick Fagan (creator of Mill Ends Park
Mill Ends Park
Mill Ends Park is a tiny urban park located in the median strip of SW Naito Parkway, approaching esplanade along the Willamette River near SW Taylor Street in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. The park is a circle across, with a total area of...
, the world's smallest park) and Doug Baker, Sports Editor George Pasero and prize-winning photographer David Hume Kennerly
David Hume Kennerly
David Hume Kennerly in Roseburg, Oregon, won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for his portfolio of photographs taken of the Vietnam War, Cambodia, East Pakistani refugees near Calcutta, and the Ali-Frazier fight in Madison Square Garden, March 8, 1971...
.
Archives of the Journal are maintained by The Oregonian. Its legacy lives on in KOIN
KOIN
KOIN is the CBS affiliate television station serving the Portland metropolitan area. Its transmitter is located in Portland, Oregon, United States; it broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 40...
, Portland's CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate. It was an extension of KOIN radio (AM 970, now KUFO; and FM 101.1, now KXL-FM). On September 21, 1932 The Journal purchased its second station KALE. This is now KKPZ
KKPZ
KKPZ is a radio station broadcasting a religious radio format. Licensed to Portland, Oregon, USA, it serves the greater Portland, OR / Vancouver, WA metro area. The station is currently owned by KPHP Radio, Inc & is located at 9700 SE Eastview Dr, Happy Valley, OR 97086, 503-242-1950 Office...
. On March 30, 1946 KOIN was sold to Field Enterprises
Field Enterprises
Field Enterprises was a private holding company founded on August 31, 1944, by Marshall Field III and others whose main asset was the Chicago Sun. That same year the company acquired the book publishers Simon & Schuster and Pocket Books....
, Inc., Marshall Field III, President. On June 6, 1948 KALE became KPOJ
KPOJ
KPOJ is a radio station located in the Portland, Oregon, area. It airs a progressive talk format and was an original Air America Radio affiliate.-History:...
standing for, Portland Oregon Journal. Also on this date KPOJ-FM was launched, which today is KUPL
KUPL
KUPL-FM is an American commercial broadcast radio station based in Portland, Oregon. It specializes in country music with studios in downtown Portland...
. The stations were sold in 1961 to make way for the Journal's sale to The Oregonian.