Bulletin newspaper union pickets in Bend over contract negotiations

This week, union workers at Bend’s newspaper, The Bulletin, spoke out against its owners, Carpenter Media Group, a Mississippi-based company.

Bulletin reporter Clayton Franke said the short lunchtime picket on Tuesday was meant to draw public support and “encourage Carpenter Media to meet us in the middle.” Franke, 26, is also a member of the union’s bargaining committee.

Carpenter Media and Bulletin publisher John Carr did not respond to OPB’s requests for an interview.

The out-of-state organization swooped in last year and purchased EO Media Group, which included a portfolio of papers throughout the state of Oregon, including the Bulletin. Carpenter now owns over 30 newspapers in Oregon, including outlets in the Portland metro area. The revolving door of ownership at the Bend paper over the last seven years has caused tumult as staff numbers continue to dwindle.

Access to local journalism has been shrinking across Oregon. Earlier this year, the federal government voted to rescind funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, causing public and community radio stations to lose significant amounts of funding.

Carpenter became the largest media owner in Oregon and the 4th largest in the nation when it purchased a raft of newspapers in the Northwest in 2024. The company acquired The Bulletin while unionized staff were in the middle of negotiating their first contract.

Courtney Scott, a representative with Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild, said Carpenter Media is her biggest concern when it comes to hyperlocal media in the region. PNW NewsGuild represents 10 Bulletin employees.

Franke said Carpenter Media is offering a contract that worsens their current working conditions when it comes to things like pay and story quotas. The union proposed a base wage of $26.

“We’ve come down to $23, they’re still offering a base wage of $20 with no raise in the first year,” he said.

Owners are also asking reporters to write 10 stories a week in order to be considered for a raise, according to Franke. Something he said isn’t feasible if the goal is to provide vetted, well-reported information to the community.

Before Carpenter Media Group and EO owned the Bend Bulletin, it was owned by Western Communications. In 2019, WesComm planned to dissolve the company and sell off assets, including the Bulletin, because of massive debt. That’s when EO Media Group bought the paper with the help of investors from the Bend community. Last year, EO announced significant layoffs and staff and consolidations before selling to Carpenter.

Bulletin reporter Noemi Arellano-Summer said at least three people were laid off from the paper in 2024.

Scott said Carpenter tried laying off staff right after purchasing the 122-year-old newspaper, but they weren’t allowed to because the workers were unionized and the new owners didn’t show economic necessity, which would have allowed the layoffs to happen. “I believe that having a union is integral to a free press,” she said, adding that it’s important to try to maintain as free of a press as possible given the current state of the country and world.

Last year, Democratic U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon gave support to the Central Oregon NewsGuild and urged Carpenter Media to “bargain in good faith with the journalists at The Bulletin.”

Franke is concerned about access to local journalism and the newspaper’s ability to provide comprehensive, fact-based reporting for the economic center of Central Oregon. “I think it is pretty dangerous for the public, and there’s not really another sort of news source that can come in and replace the work that we’re doing here,” Franke said.

Over the summer, the Bulletin’s crime and public safety reporter left, and the position has yet to be filled, he said.