Tiah DeGrofft, the newly elected Pendleton Round-Up Association president, talks Nov. 25, 2023 about her experience on the court during the kick-off breakfast to introduce the 2024 Round-Up court. DeGrofft is the first female president of the rodeo.

Reporting is eclectic. On any given day our staff could handle a call to cover a house fire or a request to attend someone’s 100th birthday party.

This past week exemplified that. The EO newsroom reported on everything from Tiah DeGrofft becoming the first woman president of the Pendleton Round-Up to the recent uptick in serious crime to the latest candidate for mayor of Pendleton.

Our reporters also work on regional teams for bigger stories, including the state offering free naloxone — the opioid reversal medication — to schools. That was on the front page of our Saturday regional edition as well as the centerpiece on websites of the EO and our other Eastern Oregon newspapers.

We’ve addressed here before the skillsets good reporters need, and we’re running into difficulties finding viable candidates to fill our reporter vacancies. Often we get applicants who have little actual experience in reporting and journalism. And while we’re as open to hiring an inexperienced applicant, at times it can feel insulting.

Would an auto repair shop, for example, fill a mechanic spot with someone who has never worked on a car engine? Yet often that is what applicants ask of us.

That’s why some of our vacancies can stay open for so long. It makes little sense to fill a spot with an employee who will have to learn from the ground up to be a reporter. Usually that’s what something such as a journalism degree is for.

This last week, however, we made some strides in at least finding some freelancers with real depth of experience, and we’re going to give those contract workers some meatier topics we’ve had to sit on.

So in some weeks ahead, you can look for articles on candidates seeking public office and what some local governments have been doing with public money that might raise some eyebrows. Stay tuned.

If you haven’t already, take a moment to register your subscription for digital access of the East Oregonian. Call 800-781-3214 to talk to one of our customer service staff who will be happy to walk you through the process. It’s easy, takes just a few moments to get set up and allows you to take advantage of our e-edition, app and website delivery along with your print subscription.

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As always, if you have comments or questions about the East Oregonian, or want to pass along a story idea, send me an email at this address: acutler@eastoregonian.com.

Finally, let me take this opportunity to once again thank the East Oregonian’s subscribers: We simply would be unable to do this vital work without your support.

Andrew Cutler is the publisher and editor of the East Oregonian.