Are you keeping up on local news, sports, and what to do in the Rogue Valley? Do you read the Rogue Valley Times? Over 23 percent of adults in Jackson County do, along with others in Josephine County, Siskiyou County, and the coast – and the percent is increasing daily.
The Rogue Valley Times is part of eoMEDIA GROUP, which has been publishing in Oregon for 120 years. They publish over 20 “newspapers,” including the Bend Bulletin. They launched the Rogue Valley Times website on February 6 and published their first print edition on February 18.
eoMEDIA GROUP did not want the Rogue Valley community to suffer the loss that comes from being unserved by a local newspaper after the Medford Mail Tribune stopped publishing. They saw publishing the Rogue Valley Times “a great opportunity to serve the community and have the community support our work and local journalism in return,” said Publisher David Sommers.
Both digital ($16/mo) and print/digital ($22/mo) subscriptions are available and can be ordered on the RV Times website. The Times has over 6,300 paying subscribers. Editions are published on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Digital editions can be read on the website. Print editions are printed overnight in Klamath Falls and delivered by USPS the same day the digital edition comes out. Their very extensive website www.rv-times.com is updated 24/7 and features 18-24 stories each day.
Interested in local events? The Times publishes Go! Rogue (similar to the MMT Tempo) every Thursday – and printed copies are FREE and available to everyone – look for the green distribution racks at many places around the valley. You can get coverage for your event, as well. Just check out the Event Calendar on their website.
David Smigelski, former editor of the Medford Mail Tribune is editor. Most of the staff members formerly worked for the Tribune. There are 24 employees now, with plans to increase to 30 by the end of 2023.
How do they get their interesting and timely stories? Reporters have beats and do research. The Times also gets tips from local citizens. The Times has an opinion page with editorials and Letters to the Editor. A few weeks ago there was a flurry of letters regarding the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, more recently the subject for many letters was jet boats on the Rogue near Touvelle State Recreation Site.
Rogue Valley Times recently moved from the Southern Oregon Historical Society building to 2 West Main, which gives them lots of space to expand. They are located in downtown because “there’s nowhere else we would consider being other than in downtown. We have a five-year commitment and exterior signage is coming soon,” said David Sommers.
