New Bulletin Owner Moves to Revive Ailing Newspaper

For a time it appeared the fate of The Bend Bulletin would end in a worst case scenario, with fear the 116-year old newspaper could end up in the hands of a  Canadian group known for reducing its acquired properties to shadows of their previous operation.         

            Turning to a group of local minority investors for participation, EO Media Group stepped in with a top bid to a federal bankruptcy court of $3.65 million for The Bulletin and its equipment, beating offers by the Adams Publishing Group from the midwest and Rhode Island Suburban Newspapers, an entity affiliated with Alberta Newspaper Group based in Vancouver, BC.

            EO Media’s bid also includes Bulletin parent Western Communication’s small Redmond weekly, The Spokesman, and comes after the company earlier sold weeklies in Baker City and La Grande as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

            The Canadian affiliated group had submitted an early bid of $2.25 million, with a provision that the company would receive a $67,500 breakup fee if another company made a higher offer approved by the court, a strategy often called a “stalking horse” bid.

            The Bulletin becomes EO Media’s only daily newspaper and together with the Redmond weekly will be held by a newly-formed company, Central Oregon Media Group. With the Baker City and La Grande weeklies acquired earlier, EO’s holdings also include The Capital Press, a weekly agricultural publication based in Salem, as well as newspaper and specialty print media in Astoria, Hermiston, Seaside, Wallowa County, Pendleton, John Day, Lincoln City and Long Beach, WA. With a stated circulation of 14,800 The Bulletin is second only to The Capital Press in EO’s portfolio.          

            Not included in the Bulletin purchase is Western’s more than 86,000  square foot building on Bend’s west side that included the newspaper’s printing press and related production equipment, corporate headquarters and editorial offices.

            In a separate transaction, local investor Next development acquired the building, and potential development acreage on NE Chandler Avenue, for $13.25 million. The building and first position on Western’s newspaper assets had been held by New York based Sandton Credit Solutions Master Fund III, LP, of New York.

            Sandton is known for acquiring troubled debt at a discount, which was the case when it took over from Bank of America a $20 million loan Western had used to build Western's lavish headquarters facility in early 2000s, a debt that had also led to the company's earlier Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2011. BofA had bought the loan from the portfolio of formerly Seattle-based Washington Mutual, which collapsed during the housing recession.

            Even before closing of the Bulletin purchase, EO executives appeared to move quickly to put in place new editorial staff. They announced that former editor Erik Lukens would not be retained, replacing him with Gerry O’Brien, with whom EO chief operating officer Heidi Wright had worked at the Klamath Falls daily, and previously in Montana. Wright, who was named publisher of The Bulletin, had formerly been the human resources and financial officer for Western before joining EO.

            New bylines have appeared in The Bulletin, including a reporter covering resources issues and another local and county politics and development. Longtime Salem political correspondent Gary Warner was named business editor and outdoor sports reporter Mark Morical returned to the paper after a short time off the staff during the ownership transition. Other editorial staffers departed including an experienced business and real estate editor.

Bulletin's new replica edition

            In a panel discussion before the Bend City Club in mid-October O’Brien and company chief executive Steve Forrester, a descendant of the eastern Oregon publishing family, discussed future plans for the paper.

            O’Brien said there would be an emphasis on “solutions” journalism that responds to community challenges with editorial coverage intended to achieve positive results. As an example he cited a project he led at the Klamath News-Herald to address low high school dropout rates that resulted in substantial graduation gains.

            Forrester noted the company is financially solid and will continue daily publication, rather than reduce to fewer days per week as some newspapers have done to cut costs. He emphasized that the local investors and those providing loans for the acquisition would have no part in editorial decisions.

            In a July 30 Bulletin report, publisher Wright identified the Brooks Resources Foundation, Tykeson Family Foudation and Jay Bowerman, son of Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman as providing loans in the Bulletin purchase. Bill Smith, developer of the Old Mill District, Louis Capozzi, identified as a former public relations executive, were announced as shareholders.  The Brooks Foundation is tied to Brooks Resources, a leading development company, and the Tykeson Family are former owners of the Bend Broadband cable and internet provider.

            With a healthier financial situation than Western, EO, through the new company, Central Oregon Media, will be entering a market that contrasts with locations of its other media properties.

            Bend and Central Oregon together are consistently considered the fastest growing region in the state, fueled in large part by retirees and younger arrivals alike attracted by lifestyle criteria—abundant recreation choices, high desert drier weather and access to urban amenities without the crush of larger city congestion.

            Politically, Deschutes County and Bend are the least “red” of all counties in which EO operates east of the Cascades, Most of company’s eastern Oregon base base counties tilted to Donald Trump by at least 60 percent, even topping 70 percent , with only a 48 to 45 percent margin in Deschutes County. The Bulletin under its previous leadership by Western’s descendants of Robert Chandler endorsed Hillary Clinton.

            A brief search of EO’s other publications did not turn up whether the papers endorsed a candidate in the 2016 presidential election. At the City Club session O'Brien replied to one question that the newspaper will take positions and make endorsements in the political arena.

            As to portend the newspaper’s editorial challenge, one question at the Bend City Club inquired of its future “relationship” with the Washington Post and New York Times news services. CEO Forrester would only cite an example, without details, when editors had looked critically at the emphasis of a recent news service story.

            To show its commitment to engaging existing readers, and reaching new ones, EO announced formation of an editorial advisory board, which would act as a sounding board for community issues, but not be involved in directing editorial content.

            The company has also pointed to its record of digital innovation with its other publications, recognizing that younger readers have migrated from print to content available on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other social media.One innovation thus far is a full searchable online replica of the daily print edition.
            There has also been a more aggressive effort to funnel editorial content to social media and to stay abreast of breaking news during any given day. Email newsletter subscribers are offered feeds of state government news in the form of Oregon Capital Insider, a joint venture of Pamplin Media Group and EO Media with the stated goal to "counter a disturbing decline in independent news coverage of state government."
            Robert Pamplin Jr., Pamplin media founder, is the son of the late Pamplin Sr., the former chief executive of Atlanta headquartered Georgia Pacific timber company.
            Pamplin Jr.'s media company includes The weekly Portland Tribune and more than 25 community oriented publications inclulding the Prineville weekly where the Bulletin is now printed.  Pamplin controls 60,000 acres of ranchland north of Madras under the R2 brand as well as fruit and nut orchards and vineyards in the Willamette Valley.

            Even with the new initiatives, the Bulletin continues to struggle with hard copy print delivery problems. In recent weeks of late fall and early winter it has apologized through Facebook posts and email for production problems at  Prineville facility, and weather related issues.It has also continued to post advertising for delivery drivers on social media.

Prices Level Going Into Winter-Tight Market in Bend and Redmond

            Bend home sales in November dropped to the lowest monthly median price of $431,000 since Feburary when the number was $427,000. The price was also $1,000 below the $430,000 median for November of 2018, and was a sharp drop of 8.5% from the $471,000 median for October.

            Bend monthly median prices first ticked above $400,000 – to $409,000 – in June of 2017 and stayed above that threshold until dipping below for November and December of 2017. Since then the median has held above $400,000 with erratic rises and dips along the way.

            The most recent drop of 8.5% was the largest month to month movement either up or down since prices jumped by 11.86% from February to March of 2017.

            Total monthly sales for November in Bend dropped to their lowest level, at 167 closings, since the same month of 2018. Inventory as calculated by dividing current total listings of 2,306 homes by monthly average sales stood at a two months supply.

Bend "rolling" 12 month median home prices

            Inventory has hovered around the two month number for much of the past few years, even with steady single family construction as Bend continues a sustained economic recovery from the market collapse in the early decade of the new century.

            Maybe a more statistically meaningful number is the median “rolling” price for the previous 12 months. By that measure, Bend prices are dead even for the 12 months of 2019 with the same months from December through November of 2019.

            In Redmond, the second largest Central Oregon home market, the November median sale price was $320,000, down 2.18% from October, and was 4.9% above the same month of 2018.

            Redmond sales through November totaled 1,007, which calculated by the 12-month average meant that the 163 active listings translated to a two month inventory, essentially the same as Bend.

            Together the Bend and Redmond submarkets of the MLS of Central Oregon typically account for at least 75% of all regional sales.

            In its November monthly analysis of other smaller regional markets, Beacon Appraisal reported median sale prices ranging from a low of $181,000 in Jefferson County, including Madras and Crooker River Ranch, to a high of $540,000 in Sunriver, followed by Sisters at $515,000, Crook County including Prineville, $255,000 and LaPine, $247,000.

            Those smaller markets all had inventory of four to five months, which is generally considered a more “stable” or balanced market for buyers and sellers, against the two months supply in Bend and Redmond thought to represnet a sold sellers market.

            Beacons’s analysis, drawn from the MLS of Central Oregon database, included single family homes on less than an acre.