The Oregonian's State Politics Desk Loses Another Reporter

By AARON MESH

The Oregonian has lost another state politics reporter. Yuxing Zheng is leaving the paper to work as a spokeswoman for Metro.

Zheng, 29, covered the state legislature and Gov. John Kitzhaber's office. Metro, the regional planning agency, internally announced Zheng's hiring this morning as "the new content and storytelling guru for Metro's parks, trails and natural areas work."

The departure of Zheng is the latest in a wave of newsroom defections from the state's largest paper—she's the fourth staffer to leave in less than two weeks. It also suggests the paper continues to have trouble retaining young talent and minority voices in the newsroom, as it enforces steep new quotas for feeding the website.

Her leaving also continues the rapid devastation of The Oregonian's state politics desk. Reporters Christian Gaston and Harry Esteve left the desk earlier this year. That leaves Jeff Mapes as the sole veteran of the state politics team.

Zheng could not be immediately reached for comment. Here is the internal announcement from Metro communications supervisor Laura Oppenheimer Odom.

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