Malheur Enterprise

The Malheur Enterprise is a weekly newspaper in Vale, Oregon. It was established in 1909, and since October 2015 has been published by Malheur Enterprise Pub. Co.[1][2] It is issued weekly on Wednesdays.[1] Early on, it carried the title Malheur Enterprise and Vale Plaindealer.[3][4] As of 2018 its circulation has been estimated at 1,207[1] to 1,277.[5]

Malheur Enterprise
The Voice of Malheur County
Front page of Vol. 1, No. 1 (November 20, 1909)
TypeWeekly newspaper
Owner(s)Les Zaitz, Scotta Callister, Lyndon Zaitz
Founder(s)Major (L. H.) French
EditorLes Zaitz
Founded1909
CityVale, Oregon
CountryUnited States
Circulation1,207 (as of 2018)[1]
Websitemalheurenterprise.com

History
Masthead from the December 4, 1909 issue (Vol. 1, No. 3)

The Enterprise started out as a regional booster, with financial backing from Major Leigh Hill (L. H.) French.[6] French, who had recently been promoting mining projects in the Klondike gold rush in Alaska and was related by marriage to the Studebaker automobile family, promoted mining, and prizefights. With his backing, the paper envisioned oil wells and irrigation projects as driving a prosperous future for the region. John Rigby, who became the paper's second manager in 1912, has been credited with rallying public opinion behind the Warm Springs Irrigation District.[7][8] George Huntington Currey purchased the paper in 1917, and then traded it in 1920 for the Baker City Herald.[7] In 1922 brothers Winfield S. and Harry Brown, who had founded other eastern Oregon papers, purchased an interest in the paper.[9] The Enterprise played a role in the election of U.S. senator Robert Stanfield.[7] The Enterprise was sold in 1930.[10]

A 1950 book covering the county's early days identified the Enterprise as "one of three newsy newspapers still published in Malheur county."[11]

The Oregon Education Association commended the Enterprise in 1972 for its "over-all education coverage."[12]

Renewed vigor in the 2010s

By 2015, the paper was on the verge of collapse. Oregon journalist Les Zaitz stated it was "arguably the worst newspaper in Oregon...full of government press releases."

In that year, Zaitz was approaching retirement from his multi-decade position as an investigative reporter for the Oregonian, and was planning to retire with his wife, Scotta Callister, at their Grant County ranch. But upon hearing about the Enterprise's troubles, he and Callister, who was retiring as editor of the Blue Mountain Eagle, along with his brother, Lyndon Zaitz, publisher of Keizertimes, formed the Malheur Enterprise Publishing Company in 2015 to purchase the paper. In a 2016 interview, Zaitz professed no grand ambitions with the paper.[13][14] At the time of the purchase, the paper only had one reporter.[13] Callister ran the paper for the first year, while Zaitz finished his tenure at the Oregonian.[13]

Zaitz brought a distinguished resume, having earned widespread recognition for his coverage of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, the Rajneeshpuram community of the 1980s, and the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016. He had also been a Pulitzer Prize finalist twice, for his coverage of non-profits and Mexican drug cartels.[14][15][16][17][18] By the time he took the helm, he was ready to fully embrace a turnaround, and insisted to his two reporters that they were going to be the "best there ever was," and held their reporting to a high standard.[13] He felt that local newspapers could serve as "laboratories" for the evolving news industry.[13]

Subsequent successful projects brought accolades and opportunities, including membership in a national local reporting network and recognition in other regional and national news outlets. The Enterprise has hosted local talks including political candidate forums and discussions on social services.[19]

Oregon Psychiatric Security Review Board investigation

In early 2017, the reporting team uncovered what would prove to be a major scandal. A man who had killed his ex-wife, and whose arrest caused another death, had previously faked insanity to avoid prison on a kidnapping charge. When the Enterprise sought the release of more than 200 records related to his release, the Oregon Psychiatric Security Review Board (OPSRB) sued the Enterprise and its editor.[20] The Enterprise appealed to its readers for legal funds, and Zaitz told the review board that picking a fight with a small paper was like "poking a stick in a badger hole."[16] The Seattle Times published a column supporting the Enterprise,[21] and other influential people and agencies expressed support as well.[16] Oregon governor Kate Brown ultimately intervened, ordering the records released.[16]

When Investigative Reporters and Editors conferred its national FOI (freedom of information) Award to the team of Zaitz, Braese and Caldwell, it marked the first time in the award's 20-year history that it went to a community paper.[13] The team also earned one of three finalist spots for the 2017 annual award in the Scripps Howard Foundation's First Amendment category.[22]

ProPublica local reporting network

ProPublica, a national news organization, announced in December 2017 that the Enterprise would be one of seven news outlets—and the only weekly paper—selected from a field of 239 to be part of its Local Reporting Network. The award includes the salary of one reporter, as well as extensive support and guidance for their reporting.[16][23][24]

In a 2018 editorial written under the Local Reporting Network program, Zaitz told the story of how the paper had effected the release of OPSRB documents and stated that the records he had obtained would contribute to future reporting on related issues.[25]

In November 2018, Zaitz estimated that the paper's circulation had doubled, and revenue tripled, in the preceding three years.[26] Zaitz launched the Salem Reporter in Salem, Oregon in September, 2018.[27]

Investigation into economic development and local officials

The Enterprise ran a series of articles starting in 2019 investigating state representative Greg Smith's pursuit of economic development projects, notably the Treasure Valley Reload Center (TVRC), a rail shipping facility planned to open in Nyssa in 2020, that ultimately benefited Smith's own consulting firm.[28][29][30] Later that year, Smith and Malheur County sheriff Brian Wolfe threatened legal action against the paper, attracting national news media attention.[31][32] Smith later made an offer to buy the paper, a bid described as "reeking" of self-interest by the publisher of a neighboring newspaper.[33]

The Enterprise continued its coverage of economic development funds and the Smith's conflicting interests into 2022,[34] and sued Smith over public records in September 2022.[35] In early 2023 Smith resigned from the TVRC's board,[36] and that summer Americold, the anticipated operator of the shipping facility, announced its withdrawal from the TVRC; Oregon Public Broadcasting interviewed an Enterprise reporter about the project, and noted the TVRC's numerous setbacks for permitting and financial reasons.[37]

Series on childhood poverty in Malheur County

The newspaper published a five part series on childhood poverty in Malheur County, authored by five students from the Annanberg journalism school, in 2023.[38][39]

References
  1. https://www.mondotimes.com/1/world/us/37/8646/23998
  2. "About Malheur enterprise". Historic Oregonian Newspapers.
  3. Malheur Enterprise, WorldCat
  4. "The Malheur Enterprise and Vale Plaindealer". December 4, 1909. p. 4.
  5. "Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association".
  6. "Who's who in New York City and State". 1904.
  7. Turnbull, George S. (1939). "Malheur County" . History of Oregon Newspapers . Binfords & Mort.
  8. Bellinger, Charles Byron; Odeneal, Thomas Benton; Stratton, Julius Augustus; Holmes, William Henry; Thayer, William Wallace; Strahan, Reuben S.; Burnett, George Henry; Morrow, Robert Graves; Crawford, James W. (1918). Reports of Cases Decided in the Supreme Court of the State of Oregon. Bancroft-Whitney.
  9. Oregon Exchanges, Vol. 5, No. 3, p. 31.
  10. Oregon Exchanges: For the Newspaper Folk of the State of Oregon. School of Journalism, University of Oregon. 1930.
  11. Gregg, Jacob Ray (1950). Pioneer Days in Malheur County: Perpetuating the Memory of Prominent Pioneers and Preserving an Authentic History of the County. L. L. Morrison.
  12. "Editor and Publisher 1972-07-01: Vol 105 Iss 27". Duncan McIntosh. July 1972.
  13. Aney, Kathy (April 20, 2018). "Rural newspaper bucks a trend". East Oregonian.
  14. "The Oregonian's Les Zaitz Announces His Retirement". Willamette Week. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
  15. "Reporter reveals 'luckiest break' in investigation of cult behind Netflix's Wild Wild Country". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  16. "How the editor and publisher of a tiny Oregon weekly took on the state — and won". Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  17. "Mount St. Helens eruption: The Oregonian's front page". OregonLive.com. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  18. "The Pulitzer Prizes".
  19. "Hear from former foster youth, current foster parents and officials about area need". The Argus Observer. 2018-04-10. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  20. Westneat, Danny (March 31, 2017). "Free press? State hits tiny paper with pricey lawsuit after it seeks public records". The Seattle Times.
  21. "Free press? State hits tiny paper with pricey lawsuit after it seeks public records". 31 March 2017.
  22. Scripps Howard Awards honor the best in journalism with finalists in 15 categories, Scripps Howard Foundation, Kari Wethington, February 27, 2018. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  23. "Here are the seven investigative reporters in ProPublica's first Local Reporting Network group". Nieman Lab. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  24. ProPublica (December 8, 2017). "ProPublica Local Reporting Network Selects Seven Newsrooms Across U.S." (Press release).
  25. Zaitz, Les (April 25, 2018). "A Sick System: How an Oregon Weekly Forced Release of Key Records in Murder Cases". ProPublica.
  26. Goldman, Tom (November 26, 2018). "Digging Deep Into Local News, A Small Newspaper In Rural Oregon Is Thriving". Morning Edition / National Public Radio. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
  27. "Oregon Business - Veteran newspaper editor, Salem business leader team up on new media outlet".
  28. Jaquiss, Nigel (2019-05-29). "Rep. Greg Smith Is a Member of the Select Group That Doles Out State Dollars. He Also Makes a Tidy Living From Public Contracts. It's Perfectly Legal". Willamette Week. Retrieved 2023-07-25.
  29. Dooris, Pat; Parfitt, Jamie (February 21, 2023). "Oregon taxpayers on the hook for new rail station on Idaho border as costs climb". KGW. Retrieved 2023-07-25.
  30. "Malheur County takes over funding costs of pursuing rail shipping center". Malheur Enterprise. 2019-05-08. Retrieved 2023-07-25.
  31. Clibanoff, Matt (2019-08-20). "Sheriff Warns Journalists After Greg Smith Complaints". Law & Crime. Retrieved 2023-07-25.
  32. Budryk, Zack (2019-08-20). "Oregon town officials ask sheriff to investigate reporters". Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  33. Chakradhar, Shraddha (March 31, 2022). "A local newspaper in Oregon punches above its weight. A politician it investigated wants to buy — and change — it". Nieman Lab. Retrieved 2023-07-25.
  34. Hernandez, Rolando (June 14, 2022). "Construction for Malheur County shipping depot faces budget challenges". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Retrieved 2023-08-01.
  35. Alexander, Rachel (2022-09-13). "Malheur Enterprise sues Greg Smith over public records". Salem Reporter. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  36. Thompson, Leslie (2023-02-22). "Greg Smith pulls out of rail shipping project". Argus Observer. Retrieved 2023-07-25.
  37. Hernandez, Rolando (August 1, 2023). "Expected operator for Nyssa rail center pulls out of project". Oregon Public Broadcasting.
  38. Van Wing, Sage (July 21, 2023). "Reporting series looks at child poverty in Malheur County". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  39. Chkarboul, Christina; Dimapanat, Shane; Kalinowski, Andie; Lim, Suejin; Tang, Venice (2023-06-20). "Malheur's kids in peril as parents, programs struggle with economic, social challenges". Malheur Enterprise. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
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