After the Eugene Weekly stopped printing last month, staff say they’ve seen an outpouring of local and national support.
On Dec. 28, the Weekly announced that it had been the victim of an alleged embezzlement, leaving the publication in debt and forcing it to lay off its entire newsroom. Editor-in-Chief Camilla Mortensen said an employee siphoned funds meant to pay vendors, retirement and the electric bill.
That story drew national attention, including articles in the New York Times and the Washington Post. Mortenson said the Weekly’s struggles reflect a greater trend.
"People are starting to come to terms with the losses that have happened in journalism, the losses of community newspapers," she said. "But for what was otherwise a thriving print weekly, that we might be lost because of embezzlement, I think really resonated with people."
Since the news broke, the paper has received around $100,000 in donations through its GoFundMe page and website, Mortenson said. One contributor wrote that they’ve never been to Eugene, but were moved to donate anyway.
“Local journalism is vital to community identity and an underpinning of informed voting,” the donor, Lawrence Szabo, said on GoFundMe.
Mortensen said she’s been touched seeing people who are willing to support alt-weekly journalism, but the paper isn't in the clear yet.
“On one hand, it’s just a huge and amazing amount of money,” said Mortensen. “And on the other hand, I start feeling sick, because that's just the tip of the iceberg of even just what we know was taken.”
The work continues
In the newsroom, Mortensen said former interns, freelancers and the laid-off staff are volunteering to help create content for the web.
“Editors of other newspapers or folks who moved on from the Register Guard—the paper that's technically our competition—have reached out and been like, ‘what can I do?’” she said.
According to Mortensen, the fraud investigation is limiting the paper’s future access to funds, but the goal is to rehire staff and resume printing near the end of January. She said she’s cautiously hopeful.
“With the amount of community support that has shown up,” said Mortensen, “I can't imagine not pulling this off.”
Eugene Police confirmed last week that they were investigating the embezzlement case. On Thursday, a spokesperson told KLCC that there were no updates on the investigation.
