The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper in the western United States, founded on December 4, 1850.
1982 The Oregon Journal is shut down after declining advertising revenues, and "incorporated" into the Oregonian.
1979 S. I. Newhouse dies. He turns over the operation of his company to his sons. S.I. Jr. is responsible for the magazines, and Donald takes over the newspapers.
1989 The paper establishes an Asia bureau in Tokyo, Japan, becoming the first Pacific Northwest newspaper with a foreign correspondent.
1989 The paper orders its delivery trucks to return most copies of a Sunday edition because an article told readers how to sell their homes without a real estate broker. The editor responsible for the story was demoted. The Wall Street Journal cited the incident in 1992 as an example of how papers soften business coverage to appease advertisers.
1993 The Oregonian becomes the subject of national coverage due to the fact that it was the Washington Post which broke the story of inappropriate sexual advances which led to the resignation of OregonsenatorBob Packwood. This prompts some to joke, "If it matters to Oregonians, it's in the Washington Post" (a twist on a slogan heard in advertisments for the Oregonian).[1]
1993 Newhouse appoints a new editor for the paper, who transfers from a Virginia newspaper.
1999 An Oregonian journalist wins the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting, for a report which illustrated the impact of the Asian economic crisis by profiling the local industry that exports frozen french fries. The reporter spent six months on the story.
1999 The paper wins two Overseas Press Club awards, for business and human rights reporting.
1999 The Columbia Journalism Review poll of editors ranks the Oregonian as number 12 in the list of "America's Best Newspapers" and the best of the papers owned by the Newhouse family.
2001 The paper wins the Pulitzer Prize for public service, for its "detailed and unflinching examination of systematic problems within the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, including harsh treatment of foreign nationals and other widespread abuses, which prompted various reforms." In addition, an Oregonian journalist wins for best feature writing, with a series on a teen with a facial deformity.
