Oregon Capital Chronicle (OCC)

Founding and History

The Oregon Capital Chronicle was founded in 2021 as a state affiliate of States Newsroom, a left wing media nonprofit that administers state-focused media organizations around the country and a national D.C. bureau. ¹

States Newsroom Affiliation

States Newsroom is a left-of-center media nonprofit that acts as a parent organization for state-focused media outlets around the country, in addition to having a Washington, D.C.-based national bureau. ^{4 5} States Newsroom has 50 state-level newspapers across 39 states, in addition to its national bureau in Washington D.C. ^{6 2}

Employees are hired through States Newsroom, and any exceptions to the organization’s ethics policy must be approved by both the Oregon Capital Chronicle’s editor and the national editor of States Newsroom. However, the Chronicle states that it maintains full editorial independence. ^{7 8}

A job listing from 2019 identifies States Newsroom as being a “a progressive political journalism startup.” ⁹ However, as of March 2024, while job postings and the organizations self-description do not use the term “progressive,” postings do use a left-of-center framing to identify its ideological alignment, stating explicitly that the organization  seeks to challenge “systemic inequality and racism” and that it is seeking to improve its racial diversity. ¹⁰

Financials

As a state-level project of States Newsroom, Oregon Capital Chronicle is not an independent nonprofit and States Newsroom handles its finances. States Newsroom does not itemize how much money is allocated to its various sub-entities in its tax filings. ¹¹ OCC’s donation page notes that donations are processed through States Newsroom and notes that check donations that are earmarked for OCC must be mailed to States Newsroom. ⁵

Organization Philosophy

Oregon Capital Chronicle and States Newsroom do not have a stated ideological position, however, in 2019, States Newsroom self-identified as a “a progressive political journalism startup,” though it does not use such framing in job listings as of March 2024.^{9 10 2 1}

However, both OCC and States Newsroom embrace the left-of-center philosophy of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ). OCC states that media has historically been full of privileged people who uphold systemic racism, that it intends to use its journalism to affect “positive social change,” and that the values of diversity and equity guide all levels of its reporting. ³

Leadership

Lynne Terry is the editor of the Oregon Capital Chronicle. Previously she worked at multiple outlets on health journalism and was the Paris correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR). ¹