The professional newsroom is hosted in a tall, tan brick building located downtown. Inside, the lobby features a marble floor and the shiny elevator goes up to a carpeted, buzzing newsroom. The Oregonian is full of activity, as well as a sense of community. The building that hosts The Oregonian newsroom is positioned with a picturesque view overlooking the Willamette River that the staff appreciates. The most popular newspaper in Oregon, the second most popular in the Pacific Northwest, and the nineteenth most well-known newspaper in the country, The Oregonian staff fosters a welcoming office space. One might think that all the employees are news reporters, but there are a variety of positions at The Oregonian because there is more that goes into managing the website and creating the paper than it appears on the surface.
Most of The Oregonian staff have specific areas in which they specialize. Dave Killen works as a video producer. He has worked there for six years and says that he has seen the “field [of journalism] change drastically” within that time. He never expected to end up working at The Oregonian because he majored in film production in college and was pursuing a career in what he called “non-journalistic television.” One of the things that Killen likes most about working at The Oregonian is having the “opportunity to learn new skills on the job.” Since he began working there, Killen has written two articles to be published despite his main focus being on video production.
Casey Parks, a writer for The Oregonian, says that she likes working at The Oregonian because everyone has a different personality, yet they all possess a common curiosity about the world. Being a journalist requires one you to be inquisitive and investigative to find a good topic for an article.
On May 3, 2016, telesurtv.net reported that the United Nations declared journalism to be one of the most dangerous job fields. This can be true for the journalists who go out in the field during protests and wars or report on controversial issues in countries where the government monitors what can be shared in the news. However, here in the United States, where our country’s First Amendment is freedom of speech, working at The Oregonian is not too risky a career, especially being in Portland.
Staff at The Oregonian often meet and interview some very influential people. Recently, the opinion writers and editors got the chance to meet with the governor of Oregon, Kate Brown. There is also a woman, named Anna Marum, who works at The Oregonian, whose designated job is to regularly interact with political figures to get information.
Journalism is job often overlooked but important for the information it provides to the public.
