The late, great Medford Mail Tribune and some reasons to keep on reading

The Medford Mail Tribune was the newspaper I grew up with in southern Oregon. The editorials always had the initials of the editor who wrote them, most days E.A. for Eric Allen, a quirky feature of a local newspaper that supplied us with a good quantity of national and local news. In 1934 it won the Pulitzer Prize for meritorious service for taking on corruption in Jackson County. Some believe that Sinclair Lewis’ book “It Can’t Happen Here,” a novel about a newspaper editor confronting rising authoritarianism, was based on this Medford paper. In January 2023, the Medford Mail Tribune died.

I subscribe to the Arkansas Times. I hope you do, too. I have supported the work of the Arkansas Times with a donation. I hope you have, too. I subscribe to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and I hope you do too; even though owner Walter Hussman said about me to one of his kids years ago (I think it was Eliza): “We tried to beat him every time, but never could.” Or something like that. 

Someone told me recently that they don’t subscribe to the Democrat-Gazette because of the editorial position on Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race. GET OVER IT!  

We must have reliable, well-funded local and state journalism. I offered to do these Weekend Visitor pieces hoping more folks will come to the Arkansas Times website; also because some things in the world piss me off.  And a few days ago I responded to Eliza Hussman Gaines’ ad to help fund an Arkansas health beat in the Democrat-Gazette because healthcare and how to pay for it is the issue that never goes away. I was a bit confused by the language that said gifts could be “… designated toward specific positions or initiatives.” Hopefully it doesn’t mean that a large healthcare entity could anonymously donate $50,000 and ask for support of a position such as for or against PBM’s or Medicare for All. 

What I most look forward to is the commitment to “Host public forums and community conversations.” My $50 isn’t much, but how about a forum with UAMS experts, payers and the business community on why we do such a poor job of making available folic acid for women of child-bearing age and what we can do about. And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, go read this piece. You see how I am cleverly luring you to the Arkansas Times website and its excellent local journalism?

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