Eugene Weekly plans to return to print thanks to donations, community support

Corrections & Clarifications: The publication that would become the Eugene Weekly was first founded by a group of five people in 1982. Anita Johnson and Fred Taylor became investors about a decade later.

The little red boxes across town should be filled once again on Thursday as the Eugene Weekly was slated to put out its first print product in six weeks.

Following an alleged embezzlement from within the organization, EW was forced to halt its print production in late December, announcing it had laid off its entire 10-person staff right before Christmas. While working to untangle the mountain of debt and mismanaged accounts, EW staff have been working since to put news up in a limited capacity online. Managers estimated that EW lost between $100,000 and $200,000.

With the help of the Eugene community and donations from across the country, EW had raised more than $150,000 as of Wednesday to help the publication get back on its feet, according to Camilla Mortensen, the paper's editor-in-chief.

As the donations started rolling in, managers knew they needed to set a print date, Mortensen said, saying she was anxious to see the publication's recognizable red newsstands back up and running.

"It stabs my heart when I walked by these empty boxes," she said.

Mortensen said EW has officially hired back four staff members: director of advertising Rob Weiss, technology and webmaster James Bateman, art director and production manager Todd Cooper, and herself. She said the paper hired only this core group back so far, not wanting to too ahead of itself.

EW is also working to get its distribution drivers back and paid. Mortensen said EW plans to hire back more in-house staff once the financial situation seems more sustainable.

"Our goal is to start getting everybody paid," Mortensen said. "You can't you can't run a paper on free labor. It's not fair. But everyone's just pitching in to get it going."

With the help of Catalyst Journalism students through the University of Oregon, freelancers and former EW staffers who are currently not employees, the paper was scheduled to print its first edition of the year on Thursday.

The plan was to to print weekly once again, Mortensen said.

Managing funds going forward

The individual accused of embezzling funds from paper has not yet been charged or identified, but Mortensen said an investigation is ongoing. She said the person was a former member of the EW team.

"Our concern is more just making sure that we don't open ourselves up to something like this in the future," Mortensen said. "It wasn't someone we expected."

Now, EW is taking extra care with its accounts. Mortensen said a local accounting firm Accountants on the Go volunteered to help the paper to get started initially. Since then, EW has hired two accounting firms. One specializes in "forensic accounting" to help investigate the alleged embezzlement and mismanagement.

"Once you've kind of had your trust violated like that, you're like, 'Okay, we're going to be incredibly careful from now on,'" Mortensen said.

Not quite out of the woods

The Eugene Weekly was first founded under the name "What's Happening" in 1982 by a group of five friends: Lucia McKelvey, Elisabeth Lyman, Lois Wadsworth, Sonja Snyder and Bill Snyder. Originally, the paper was a humble eight- to 16-page calendar of local arts, events and entertainment listings.

About a decade later, Anita Johnson and Fred Taylor, who met while attending the University of Oregon invested in the paper, renaming it the Eugene Weekly. Anita Johnson, now 94, was at one point the editor-in-chief of the Daily Emerald at UO, according to her son Derek Johnson, who is an attorney in Eugene. Taylor, who died in 2015, was at the Wall Street Journal for 30 years where he became a managing editor. The UO alums renamed the paper the Eugene Weekly.

"They decided that they could transform the local arts and entertainment calendar," Derek Johnson said. "Over the course of time, the two of them, using their journalistic background and skills and community interests, really built it into a weekly alternative newspaper."

The paper is now co-owned by Anita Johnson and Georga Taylor. Anita Johnson still writes for EW, occasionally visits the office and is a contributing editor.

Derek Johnson, who is an attorney in Eugene, has been supporting the paper from the sidelines throughout its financial strife.

"It's something that's important to the community, important to her (Anita Johnson)," Derek Johnson said. "It's weathered all kinds of different ups and downs over the years − this is probably the biggest challenge it's faced. It's coming off of the heels of the pandemic, where much of the advertising base was on hold, and then to be subjected to mismanagement and embezzlement at the same time, was a real tough blow. That said, it's a very resilient group of people, including my mother."

Derek Johnson said he, his mom and the EW team are determined to get the paper back on its feet and be a staple in the community for the next 40 years.

"As far as financially, we're still not completely out of the woods, but the support continues to come in," Derek Johnson said.

Continued community support

The community isn't done giving back yet. In addition to the individual donations, several local businesses are doing what they can to support EW.

Caffé Pacori, a Eugene-based coffee roastery and shop, has organized a fundraiser: Buy a shirt, save a newspaper.

Caffé Pacori does all its design and screen printing in-house, selling clothing, accessories, posters and coffee bags. When Caffé Pacori business partner Brit Howard saw EW's strife, she knew she wanted to support the paper monetarily.

"We love the Eugene Weekly," Howard said. "It's been a staple in this community."

Howard designed limited edition Eugene Weekly shirts and committed to donate 100% of proceeds directly to the EW. The T-shirts cost $24 each. Howard estimated that they will be able to donate about $20 per shirt to EW, but proceeds vary slightly between different sizes.

Caffé Pacori has been featured in EW in the past for its unique bog-themed bathroom being named "Best Bathroom" in EW's 2023 Best of series.

"It's been just kind of this little private undertaking and fun little project for us and a great way for us to contribute and provide back to the community," Howard said. "It's kind of also our way of thanking them for featuring us and thank you for appreciating our creative wonderful bathroom, which is top notch."

The shirts are available for pre-order through Sunday. Howard said they have already had about 150 pre-orders but is hoping to get even more. The limited-edition shirts can be pre-ordered at www.caffepacori.com/shop.

Miranda Cyr reports on education for The Register-Guard. You can contact her at mcyr@registerguard.com or find her on Twitter @mirandabcyr.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Eugene Weekly plans to return to print thanks to donations