Columbia County Chronicle & Chief publishes final issue

Yesterday, the Columbia County Chronicle & Chief published its last issue, leaving Oregon’s Columbia County without a newspaper.

The Chief was founded in 1891, the same year as The Wahkiakum County Eagle. It was run by the Steele family for four generations, starting in 1922 and served the communities of Rainier, Clatskanie, Westport, Mist, and Alston-Mayger weekly.

In 2014, Country Media, based in Salem, bought the Chief; they also owned the St. Helens Chronicle. The two papers operated independently until eight months ago when Country Media merged them, saying in an article last week, “Combining the two newspapers into one was a last-ditch effort to reduce expenses and reestablish profitability.”

Running a small local newspaper today is a challenge. The Eagle continues to find its path forward since the death of former editor and publisher Rick Nelson last year. Our Citizen Journalist experiment has been a huge help; we greatly appreciate all the community members who have contributed while we explore ways to bring in journalism expertise in a sustainable way.

But while Wahkiakum County continues with The Eagle, across the river, Columbia County now has no newspaper. No government or organization event announcements. No school sports coverage. No obituaries. No parade photos or local business ads for sales. No local news.

The Eagle believes in being a good neighbor. We will offer some Columbia County news so Wahkiakum County knows what’s happening with their neighbors. We will distribute copies of The Eagle in Clatskanie and Columbia County. We will carefully consider how The Eagle can contribute to our broader Columbia River neighborhood while remaining the voice of Wahkiakum and Naselle.