Branden Andersen | Newsberg

Two offices in Oregon’s Capitol. One for a lobbyists association. One for journalists who make up the Oregon Capitol Press Corps. Guess which has more members? If the obvious answer bothers you, it’s as good a time as any to donate to @oregoncapitalchronicle.com oregoncapitalchronicle.com/donate/

Here's the newsletter if anyone wants to know what's going on in #newbergoregon this week: us21.campaign-archive.com?u=94b86f6c8f...

Love this community. In the newsletter intro, I talked about how I was sick for almost the entire month of February.

This was one reader's response:

A work of art! 🍳

‘A reporter in every county’: WSU, Report for America launch groundbreaking program to confront Washington’s local news crisis - Report for America February 4, 2026 – Washington State University's Murrow College of Communication and Report for America have launched an ambitious partnership to cover every one of Washington’s counties by 2029, aimi...

Yes. Yes! A thousand times, yes!

How do we replicate this across the country?

www.reportforamerica.org/2026/02/04/w...

Btw, today is $1 day at all #Portland area Franz Bakery Outlets. Everything on their clearance wall (from bagels to English muffins, to organic Naked Bread) is just $1 each all day long.

Great reporting @loisparshley.bsky.social. Incredibly important work.

Carpenter came in to Oregon like a wrecking ball and immediately closed at least one community’s paper, laid off many experienced journalists, and at the same time required more output from the ones they kept, leading to low quality stories. All in the name of “preserving local news”.

Mid-winter dry spell continues across Pacific Northwest Prolonged dry, warm conditions this winter have led to the worst snowpack levels the state has seen since 1981, according to Oregon’s state climatologist Larry O’Neill.

Unusually warm temperatures, dry conditions and a lack of storms have all led to a mid-winter dry spell in Oregon and Washington. These are the worst snowpack levels the state has seen since 1981, according to Oregon’s state climatologist Larry O’Neill.

Here's how to best prepare for winter driving — and what to keep in your car Extreme winter conditions, including ice, freezing temperatures and heavy snow, are expected to blanket much of the U.S. later this week and into the weekend. Here's how to prepare for winter driving.

Extreme winter conditions, including ice, freezing temperatures and heavy snow, are expected to blanket much of the U.S. later this week and into the weekend. Here's how to prepare for winter driving.

Every #sportsjournalist right now needs to be writing about the chaos that is the NCAA Football playoff schedule and system. Players leaving before the season is over? Ceding Saturdays to the NFL? NIL Contracts not enforceable?! The soul is rapidly departing from #collegesports.

Incredibly grateful to be one of @tinynewscollective.bsky.social’s immediate needs grant recipients. Seriously helped me keep Newsberg running over a few months.

Journalists out there: Are you rewriting to make your content appear less AI-generated, or is that just me? I'm writing more "rough" rather than my natural style to ensure people don't think I'm using tools to draft an email.

It's a real downside of AI tools trained on copywriters and journalists.

Rain batters as Oregon and SW Washington flood watches remain in effect, road closures hit The National Weather Service said areas along the Sandy and Clackamas rivers could see rising water.

Rising waters are prompting some lane closures on major highways in some areas, while winter weather warnings have gone into effect in the Cascades with up to a foot of snow expected. With the double whammy of flooding and snow, travelers should check their route before hitting the road.

Flooding, landslides, high water inundate Portland area roads Friday: See this list of closed routes See this list of area closed roads and highway as of Friday morning, Dec. 19, 2025.

See this list of area closed roads and highway as of Friday morning, Dec. 19, 2025.

Map shows where in Oregon and Washington the most rain could fall during Thursday’s atmospheric river Once again, an atmospheric river is bringing heavy rain to Portland and the entire Pacific Northwest.

Once again, an atmospheric river is bringing heavy rain to Portland and the entire Pacific Northwest.

Who in the world keeps telling these businesses they need to send multiple marketing emails a week (or day, in some cases)? Most of the time, it's just filled with trash clogging my email inbox. There's no faster way to get me to unsubscribe.

“Audiences are sick of being treated as consumers. They want to follow journalists who know their communities extremely well and stand by the work for the right reasons.”

2/2

“The future will belong to reporters, editors, publishers, and voices rooted in community, the ones who have spent years building real relationships and earning trust through presence, accountability, and consistency.”

1/2

Audiences are sick of being treated as consumers "High-quality reporting must be free and open, supported by collective models that value impact over manufactured growth."

Maybe my favorite take from the @niemanlab.org Predictions for Journalism 2026: Audiences are Sick of Being Treated as Consumers

www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/audi...

@sarabethb.bsky.social: “This is the year we recognize that community-rooted journalism is the foundation for any hope of rebuilding trust in news.”

www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/well...

Oregon’s Christmas tree specialist tends to one of state’s most important crops The Beaver State is the Christmas tree capital of the country, producing over 3 million of the festive evergreens every year.

The amount of time, effort, and passion it must take to rise to this level of your field is always amazing. I wonder if it started with some term paper in undergrad and then just grew from there.

Very interesting read published in @opb.org yesterday by Tiffany Eckert

www.opb.org/article/2025...

This story is doing everything I hoped it would do and more.

Newsberg seen in the @latimes.com!

In Oregon’s star wine region, climate change is challenging pinot noir’s dominance Climate change is reshaping the Willamette Valley’s signature grape.

Newsberg's first statewide story is live! This co-published story with @opb.org reviews a study that analyzed 70 years of climate data in the Willamette Valley and found a trend showing the area may not be perfect for pinot in the coming decade.

Read here: www.opb.org/article/2025...

Does anyone want to be a part of my revenue generation team? Anyone? Buehler...?

Also for the love of god this has been a weight over my head for those months, and I'm so ready to think about anything else for a little bit.

#independentjournalism

Working on my first enterprise story since 2013, and WHOOOO DOGGIE I forgot about the rush of wrapping a final edit before sending to an editor. It's been months of research and field reporting, photos, etc. to get this pulled together, and I'm so excited for it to hit newsstands soon.

A 2025 check in with Oregon’s ambitious education goal, 40-40-20 An October report shows progress has been made, but Oregon is still far from its 40-40-20 goal in education — 40% of young Oregonians should have a 4-year degree, 40% should have a 2-year degree or other credential, and the remaining 20% would have at least a high school diploma or GED.

OPB’s class of 2025 project started because of a goal set by the governor that by 2025, 100% of Oregon students would graduate high school. What happened?

Good news!

The Clock for SNAP Benefits Is Ticking Down Khushboo Rathore

Oregon leaders are discussing how to support SNAP beneficiaries if federal funding stops.