A national company that owns more than 100 other dailies across the country has purchased the Eugene Register-Guard newspaper, which has been independent and family-owned for 90 years.
GateHouse Media bought the Register Guard for an undisclosed amount of money. The parent company, New Media Investment Group, has gone into more than $350 million in debt to finance its recent newspaper purchases. University of Oregon Journalism Professor Tim Gleason says this could affect the Register-Guard’s local news focus. “If it has debt, then it has to service that debt." Gleason says, "And there will be pressure on the managers of this newspaper to cut costs and essentially help the company service that large debt that it has.”
Gleason says it’s likely the Register-Guard will reduce staff under new ownership. The R-G currently employs 240 people. Gleason says he’s sad to see the Baker family get out of the newspaper business.
