VALE, Ore. — For years, local newspapers have been dying across the country, with rural areas being the hardest hit. In 2022 the New York Times reported a quarter of newspapers closed nationwide since 2005. Overall, 2,500 papers closed. Those closures are more common in high poverty areas.
But in eastern Oregon, a small newspaper called the Malheur Enterprise in Vale is bucking the trend. The paper has served Malheur County for more than 100 years. The southeast Oregon county has around 33,000 residents, but has a larger land mass than nine states.
In 2015, Les Zaitz took over the newspaper as owner and editor after working as an investigative reporter for years with The Oregonian. Since then, he’s transformed operations by focusing on digital growth and connecting with the residents of Malheur County.
"We are interested in representing the average person in Malheur County," Zaitz said.
Though most importantly, the newspaper now focuses on in-depth coverage of stories and events.
"We questioned budgets, we questioned decisions, we questioned policies," Zaitz said.
The Enterprise specializes in investigative reporting and asks government agencies for information that is not readily publicized.
"A lot of public agencies had never seen a public records request before the Enterprise turned around," Zaitz said.
Readers and journalism institutions noticed the change of the Enterprise, from a small-town newspaper with sparse coverage to a thorough and in-depth publication.
Over the years, the paper has won many investigative awards. Recently, it won a national award from the Poynter Institute, over the Washington Post, for an investigation into a rail station project. The paper reported on the project for years.
Enterprise reporters reported the rail shipping center, meant to help farmers export crops, was hindered by county financial mismanagement and delays.
Throughout years of reporting, reporters encountered county government secrecy. Eventually the paper sued the county to enforce state public records laws.
“It's kind of a big deal,” Malheur Enterprise reporter Pat Caldwell said of the award.
When Caldwell joined the Malheur Enterprise, he had been a reporter for 15 years.
"I thought I was pretty good," Caldwell said. "Then I came here… I learned that no, I have a lot more to learn."
For close to a decade, he’s learned under the tutelage of Zaitz, who has been in the journalism industry for more than 50 years.
"You know, my first published byline was when I was in the sixth grade, I did a history piece for the old Keizer news," Zaitz said.
Now he believes it’s his responsibility to help boost the industry, which has slumped due to news outlets closing and senior reporters leaving the career path.
"I frankly feel, as sort of a senior journalist in Oregon, that I have a responsibility to help journalists and journalistic organizations restore the trust of Oregonians and American people in the press," he said.
In recent years, the Malheur Enterprise has thrived.
"At a time when circulation is going down across the country, our circulation is going up," Caldwell said.
Staff believe that if they can succeed in a small, heavily conservative area, that small newspapers can make a comeback across the country.
"We shouldn't have succeeded,” Caldwell said. “We should not have succeeded. But we did."