Oregon newspaper resumes printing after misappropriation of layoffs

An Oregon weekly newspaper that fired all of its employees in December after an employee embezzled tens of thousands of dollars will resume its print edition on Feb. 8 after raising enough money through donations, its editor said Sunday.

The newspaper, The Eugene Weekly, abruptly stopped printing after discovering financial problems, including money not being deposited into employee retirement accounts and $70,000 in unpaid bills to the newspaper's printing plant, leaving all of its ten staff members with just a few had to lay off days before Christmas. , editor Camilla Mortensen said at the time.

Over the past month, however, Ms. Mortensen has continued to publish articles online with the help of interns, freelancers and retired reporters and editors — many of whom were willing to work without pay to keep the paper afloat — she said Sunday.

From this week, Ms Mortensen and three other staff members will be put back on the payroll in preparation for the February 8 edition, she said, noting that the return to the print version was made possible by readers and members of the public who had given at least $150,000 after the financial problems were reported.

“With all this support from people we just can't try – we have to try to print,” Ms Mortensen said.

The theft, the newspaper's leaders said on December 28 letter to readers, had been hidden for years, leaving its finances 'in shambles'. The newspaper has hired a forensic accountant to investigate.

Leaders of the paper said that while the situation was unprecedented, they believed in the paper's mission and were “committed to keeping EW alive.”

Eugene police could not immediately be reached for comment about the embezzlement Sunday evening, but previously said they were investigating. The employee now accused of theft, who was involved in the newspaper's finances, has not been publicly identified.

The free newspaper, founded in 1982, previously printed 30,000 copies a week. Copies could be found in bright red boxes in and around Eugene, Oregon's third largest city.

Ms Mortensen, who became editor in 2016 after almost a decade at the paper, said on Sunday that the closure had been painful.

“Every time I walk past one of our little red boxes there is no paper in it, it stabs me to the heart,” she said, noting that the plan was to print 5,000 fewer copies so the paper could be sustainable to stay.

“Obviously this outpouring has been great,” she said, “but we also want to get back to being a free weekly that pays for itself.”