Water discharges Thursday, May 5, 2022, from an outlet at the base of McKay Dam about 6 miles south of Pendleton. The reservoir was 90% full. Local officials are monitoring the discharge and what it means for residents along McKay Creek.

Let’s pull off the bandage and air it out — the East Oregonian newsroom is in a tough spot.

We are down to one full-time reporter — one person on the staff whose job is reporting news. Yes, we have other reporters and editors, but right now, just one person dedicated to news without splitting other duties.

We had two reporters, but then one walked away from the job. I think that’s more about that person than the EO. Reporting is tough work — you have to gather information and report it accurately, have to write well and quickly, have to navigate a content management system, have to develop the ability to take criticism. The list goes on. A desire alone to tell news stories may not be enough to sustain someone in the actual job.

So we’re implementing a strategy to work with lower staffing until we replace a couple of key positions. We’re not going to be able to do deep dives into big stories, soft feature stories are going on the back burner, we’re working to have more shorter stories, we’ll use photography even more for coverage of local events. And readers might see more bylines from partner papers as well as freelancers.

The situation is going to improve, we’re sure, but it’s going to take some time. We just hope that won’t be long. And in about a month we get a bit of help when our journalism intern joins.

On the positive side, we’ve been doing some good work. News editor Phil Wright highlighted the situation last weekend of rains filling up McKay Reservoir and what that could mean for locals living along McKay Creek. We picked up the Oregon Capital Chronicle’s important story about the Port of Morrow and the contaminated water situation in Boardman. We also gave space for Umatilla County commissioner candidates to talk about some of their plans if they win, and we continued that in the May 14 edition with the remaining Umatilla County commissioner candidates and those seeking seats on the Morrow County board.

And next week is election night coverage.

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As always, I want to take this opportunity to thank our subscribers for their support. We can’t do this work without you.