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This is Willamette Week’s annual letter to readers.
It’s an opportunity to talk about the journalism that drives everyone who works here; to let you know how we’re doing as a business; and to tell you about internal developments in our operation—added causes for optimism.
As was the case two years ago, WW’s annual report to readers is one week later than usual. (We’ve already reached the second week of our 49th year of publishing a newspaper.) This was also the case two years ago, when, like now, I couldn’t imagine placing our year in context without knowing election results.
As of press time, there remain important races to be decided across the nation. But despite a lot of concern prior to last Tuesday’s election, it does seem as if democracy has held, and Donald Trump’s influence is on the wane. I join many Oregonians in hoping all are ready to move on—so we can deal with the real, and very challenging, issues facing the city and state we love.
With that, here is our annual report. As has likely been the case for many of you, this has been a year of adjustment.
WW ‘s finances
We are a smaller business than we were prior to COVID. That means 2022 has been a year of rebuilding.
We rely on three sources of revenue—advertising, readers and events.
• Advertising
The ad business got walloped during the pandemic. Much of WW’s advertising revenue comes from event-based companies, and those are only now starting to come back. Hence our reduced page count the past couple of years.
In addition, prior to COVID, we were publishing several magazines each year, generating around 15% of our annual revenues. We discontinued this part of our business (for the most part) in 2020 and 2021. This year, we published three magazines, including Nester (a guide to home design) and Winter Guide, which will be coming out next month. With luck, there will be more ad support for more magazines—and more pages of WW—in 2023.
“What about political advertising?” you may ask. After all, more than $100 million was spent on this sort of messaging in Oregon in 2020. WW (and most newspapers) benefit practically not at all from this gusher of ad dollars. That’s largely because you, our readers, are not considered “low information” voters—who are the main target market for most political campaigns.
• Reader revenue
As recently as three years ago, we were not asking for your support. Quite frankly, we didn’t know how you’d respond to such a request, especially if we kept all our offerings free.
Your response has been both heartwarming and essential: Support from Friends of Willamette Week, which was nonexistent three years ago, now provides almost 20% of our funds. FOWW, as we call it, has grown to more than 8,000 members and will continue to be a crucial source of support for our journalism. Hence this plug: Please, if you are not yet a Friend, become one today. Go here to do so.
• Events
WW’s live events shut down completely during the pandemic. Only this past year have we been able to begin their revival, starting with the Oregon Beer Awards, Funniest Five, and Candidates Gone Wild—held last month just before the election. Some of our larger events, like TechfestNW, remain on pause as the economy shakes out.
• The big picture
All told, WW revenues for 2022 will likely end up 9% higher than in 2021. Of course, expenses are up too, but with continued support from you and the possibility of a revival in the advertising market, we’re looking forward to the year ahead with real optimism.
Philanthropy
Doing good is a key complement to any journalistic endeavor. That’s why few of Willamette Week’s many activities give us more pride than Give!Guide—our nationally recognized year-end campaign to support local nonprofits. Led by founder (and my business partner) Richard Meeker and executive director Toni Tringolo, Give!Guide hopes to raise more than $8 million for 235 local nonprofits from more than 17,000 of you before midnight on Dec. 31. Please visit giveguide.org and break out your credit card. And don’t miss any of our Big Give Days, which carry with them tremendous incentives to get you giving.
Last, but most important: Our journalism
This should come as no surprise: WW is a mission-driven company. Everyone who works here believes in the vitality of truly local and independent journalism. We don’t all share the same political viewpoints or attitudes about our city, but we do share the deeply held belief that you simply cannot have democracy without journalism that is independent, intelligent, fearless and as committed to the community it covers as are our readers.
Here’s a little added context: For much of the media world, 2022 has been a year of continued retreat for journalism. At least two Oregon counties now have no newspaper reporters tracking local government. Closer to home, local journalism is on its heels. The Portland Tribune recently announced it is ending free newspaper distribution. The New York owners of The Oregonian, one of the largest publishers in the country, recently announced they will completely stop printing the three largest newspapers in Alabama in 2023. It inevitably raises the question of when Portland will follow.
Then, too, last month Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund that is now the second-largest owner of newspapers in the country, announced its 200 papers—which include the Chicago Tribune and The Denver Post—will no longer be making election endorsements in statewide and national races because of their cost and divisiveness.
WW is hardly an economic juggernaut. At the same time, we are certainly zigging while others in our industry are zagging. This year, we were able to increase our audience on social media. We expanded the audience for our Daily Primer newsletter, which now goes out six mornings a week. All the while, our print audience remained steady so that WW continues to be the best-read print publication inside the city limits of Portland.
Most important, our news team paid particular attention this year to the challenging conditions affecting our city and state.
• City Hall reporter Sophie Peel examined the causes and effects of a hollowed-out downtown—and how county health workers were afraid to go to work at their Old Town clinics because of the conditions in surrounding homeless camps. Four months later, she broke the news that three downtown hotels—including the flagship Hilton—were approaching foreclosure while officials balked at requiring workers to return to their cubicles at City Hall.
• We reported on the neglect of Portland’s shared spaces and the open-air drug market and shootings that surrounded Dawson Park. That finally attracted the attention of city authorities.
• Our newsroom began answering, on a weekly basis, inquiries from readers about why properties in otherwise thriving neighborhoods were sitting vacant. That series, “Chasing Ghosts,” was by far our most popular feature in 2022—and will continue into 2023. Now some of those buildings are experiencing renewed developer interest.
• As Portland stirred back to social activities after a two-year halt, WW produced in-depth guides to travel, drinking and dining. The most groundbreaking: a guide to “perfect dining days,” breakfast to dinner, in neighborhoods across the city—including downtown!
• Reporter Nigel Jaquiss concluded a two-year film project with Portland documentary director Irene Taylor on sexual abuse in the Boys Scouts of America. The film, Leave No Trace, streams on Hulu and is a 2023 finalist for a DuPont Award, one of the highest honors in documentary journalism.
• Of course, our staff spent much of 2022 on election coverage, which included profiles of all three candidates for governor, regular watchdogging of the money being poured into politics, and 50 hours of tough and smart interviews with candidates and those campaigning for and against ballot measures, and our endorsements themselves.
What’s next
Our team is genuinely excited to continue covering Portland in the year ahead, when charter reform will begin to take shape at the same time the city wrestles with decisions that will have a huge impact on the health and livability of this region.
Everyone at WW understands how fortunate we are to work in a city and state that, more than most, appreciate that democracy will not survive without robust, fearless and caring local journalism.
With that in mind, I am pleased to report that, as of the first of the year, two important promotions will take place. Together, they will make ours a smarter and more relevant news enterprise.
• Anna Zusman will become Publisher.
• Aaron Mesh will become Managing Editor, responsible for the entire newsroom.
Between them, Anna and Aaron have a combined 21 years of experience at WW—and understand full well the challenges and opportunities we face, as well as the importance of WW to our community.
Me? My primary focus will turn back to the newsroom and to Friends of Willamette Week. I hope to grow support for new initiatives in local journalism.
We appreciate your support and active engagement with our journalism. Together, with all of you, we hope the year ahead will begin the healing and rebirth of this wonderful city we all call home.
Thank you,
Mark Zusman, Editor and Publisher