One of Oregon’s oldest newspapers, the Brownsville Times, has suddenly shut down.
The weekly newspaper was not delivered to the Brownsville Pharmacy & Gifts on Thursday, December 12, as usual. None of the paper’s regular merchants in central Linn County, including the town’s Dari-Mart, did either.
Founded in 1888, the publication published its last edition on December 5. According to its masthead, it also covered Shedd, Tangent, Harrisburg, Halsey, and Crawfordsville.
The shutdown coincides with notable shifts in the newspaper sector in Oregon.
Vance Parrish, the newspaper’s owner and staff writer, denied an interview when contacted for comment, referring instead to a statement posted on the newspaper’s website.
The statement said that the shutdown followed a protracted and difficult struggle to keep operations going.
We came to this conclusion due to a number of difficulties, the most recent of which being a modification made by our printer that rendered it financially unfeasible to keep printing the newspaper. The statement said, “We were unable to publish a farewell issue because we were notified of this new policy the day after the December 5th issue was distributed.”
To be clear, the Democrat-Herald did not print it.
The Times was primarily a print publication; stories were not posted on its website. However, it did take use of the opportunity to express gratitude to individuals who had helped it with its local news coverage.
A suggestion that anyone interested in continuing publication should get in touch with The Times via the website was also included in the message.
Since almost all of our family’s income came from The Times, we kindly ask that you use one of the links below to donate to us in order to support us at this trying time. Thank you so much for your support! It said.
In 2011, Parish and his spouse, Holly Parrish, purchased The Times from former Mayor Don Ware.
A Register-Guard piece that questioned the ethics of an elected politician owning a publication in which he would frequently appear was picked up by The Associated Press.
In 2022, Parrish told Mid-Valley Media that despite lacking any journalism credentials, he had aimed to elevate The Times’ content.
He and his daughter Tia were the only reporters for the Times. From reporting to distributing the paper, the three-member family handled everything.
The relationship between the publication and certain city authorities was not strained.
Mayor Adam Craven wrote the following in the most recent monthly summary, which is a kind of news statement that local officials write following every City Council meeting:
Council and Staff became dissatisfied with the biased coverage of the City in local publications a few years ago. The council aimed to enhance contact with the public and residents in the Brownsville area. So, the City started publishing the monthly synopsis of Council proceedings and mailed it to everyone in the 97327 zip code. I am happy to report that this communication effort has led to many positive comments while minimizing the negative coverage the City continues to receive, the Nov. 26 flier read.
After City Council members talked about producing their own meeting coverage, assuming that The Times would publish it, the monthly synopsis was developed.
Vance said at the time he wouldn t: Ethically, to me, it would be irresponsible to lean entirely on their press releases to report on what s going on in the city.
–By SHAYLA ESCUDERO, Corvallis Gazette-Times
Corvallis Gazette-Times, Ore, 2024.
Visit Corvallis Gazette-Times, Ore. at www.gazettetimes.com
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