Current:Home > StocksOregon newspaper forced to lay off entire staff after discovering that an employee embezzled funds-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Oregon newspaper forced to lay off entire staff after discovering that an employee embezzled funds
View Date:2024-12-23 22:35:35
An Oregon weekly newspaper has had to lay off its entire staff and halt print after 40 years because its funds were embezzled by a former employee, its editor said, in a devastating blow to a publication that serves as an important source of information in a community that, like many others nationwide, is struggling with growing gaps in local news coverage.
About a week before Christmas, the Eugene Weekly found inaccuracies in its bookkeeping, editor Camilla Mortensen said. It discovered that a former employee who was "heavily involved" with the paper's finances had used its bank account to pay themselves $90,000 since at least 2022, she said.
The paper also became aware of at least $100,000 in unpaid bills — including to the paper's printer — stretching back several months, she said.
Additionally, multiple employees, including Mortensen, realized that money from their paychecks that was supposed to be going into retirement accounts was never deposited.
When the paper realized it couldn't make the next payroll, it was forced to lay off all of its 10 staff members and stop its print edition, Mortensen said. The alternative weekly, founded in 1982, printed 30,000 copies each week to distribute for free in Eugene, the third-largest city in the state and home to the University of Oregon.
"To lay off a whole family's income three days before Christmas is the absolute worst," Mortensen said, expressing her sense of devastation. "It was not on my radar that anything like this could have happened or was happening."
The suspected employee had worked for the paper for about four years and has since been fired, Mortensen said.
The Eugene police department's financial crimes unit is investigating, and the paper's owners have hired forensic accountants to piece together what happened, she said.
Brent Walth, a journalism professor at the University of Oregon, said he was concerned about the loss of a paper that has had "an outsized impact in filling the widening gaps in news coverage" in Eugene. He described the paper as an independent watchdog and a compassionate voice for the community, citing its obituaries of homeless people as an example of how the paper has helped put a human face on some of the city's biggest issues.
He also noted how the paper has made "an enormous difference" for journalism students seeking internships or launching their career. He said there were feature and investigative stories that "the community would not have had if not for the weekly's commitment to make sure that journalism students have a place to publish in a professional outlet."
A tidal wave of closures of local news outlets across the country in recent decades has left many Americans without access to vital information about their local governments and communities and has contributed to increasing polarization, said Tim Gleason, the former dean of the University of Oregon's journalism school.
"The loss of local news across the country is profound," he said. "Instead of having the healthy kind of community connections that local journalism helps create, we're losing that and becoming communities of strangers. And the result of that is that we fall into these partisan camps."
An average of 2.5 newspapers closed per week in the U.S. in 2023, according to researchers at Northwestern University. Over 200 counties have no local news outlet at all, they found, and more than half of all U.S. counties have either no local news source or only one remaining outlet, typically a weekly newspaper.
Despite being officially unemployed, Eugene Weekly staff have continued to work without pay to help update the website and figure out next steps, said Todd Cooper, the paper's art director. He described his colleagues as dedicated, creative, hardworking people.
"This paper is definitely an integral part of the community, and we really want to bring it back and bounce back bigger and better if we can," he said.
The paper has launched a fundraising effort that included the creation of a GoFundMe page. As of Friday afternoon — just one day after the paper announced its financial troubles — the GoFundMe had raised more than $11,000.
Now that the former employee suspected of embezzlement has been fired, "we have a lot of hope that this paper is going to come back and be self-sustaining and go forward," he said.
"Hell, it'll hopefully last another 40 years."
- In:
- Oregon
- Journalism
veryGood! (43849)
Related
- 1 monkey captured, 42 monkeys still on the loose after escaping research facility in SC
- A slain teacher loved attending summer camp. His mom is working to give kids the same opportunity
- Hideki Matsuyama will be without regular caddie, coach after their passports and visas were stolen
- Georgia mayor faces felony charges after investigators say he stashed alcohol in ditch for prisoners
- Texas’ 90,000 DACA recipients can sign up for Affordable Care Act coverage — for now
- Hurricane Ernesto to strengthen; Bermuda braces for 'the power of nature'
- Video shows 2 toddlers in diapers, distraught in the middle of Texas highway after crash
- Taylor Swift Returns to the Stage in London After Confirmed Terror Plot
- Jerry Jones lashes out at question about sun's glare at AT&T Stadium after Cowboys' loss
- Zelenskyy says Ukrainian troops have taken full control of the Russian town of Sudzha
Ranking
- Mike Tyson employs two trainers who 'work like a dream team' as Jake Paul fight nears
- Chet Hanks Details Losing 27 Pounds in 3 Days at Rock Bottom Before Sobriety Journey
- Collin Gosselin claims he was discharged from Marines due to institutionalization by mom Kate
- Ryan Reynolds on his 'complicated' relationship with his dad, how it's changed him
- Medical King recalls 222,000 adult bed assistance rails after one reported death
- Federal agency says lax safety practices are putting New York City subway workers at risk
- 51 Must-Try Stress Relief & Self-Care Products for National Relaxation Day (& National Wellness Month)
- US judge reopens $6.5 million lawsuit blaming Reno air traffic controllers for fatal crash in 2016
Recommendation
-
When is 'The Golden Bachelorette' finale? Date, time, where to watch Joan Vassos' big decision
-
The Sunscreen and Moisturizer Duo That Saved My Skin on a Massively Hot European Vacation
-
Vance and Walz agree to a vice presidential debate on Oct. 1 hosted by CBS News
-
Yankees star Aaron Judge becomes fastest player to 300 home runs in MLB history
-
Voters in California city reject measure allowing noncitizens to vote in local races
-
Family of man killed by Connecticut police officer files lawsuit, seeks federal probe of department
-
Have you noticed? Starbucks changed its iced coffee blend for the first time in 18 years
-
'Jackpot!' star John Cena loves rappers, good coffee and a fine tailored suit