Beat Check with The Oregonian The Oregonian/OregonLive

Starting last year, The Oregonian turned its investigative spotlight on itself. The result was Publishing Prejudice, a disturbing look at the news organization’s history of racism in its reporting and its editorial advocacy.
A recent installment covered The Oregonian’s reporting after the 1948 Vanport Flood, and in particular its failure to humanize its disproportionate impact on city’s Black residents.
People displaced by the flood moved into Portland’s Albina district. But in the years that followed, The Oregonian cheered on the systematic destruction of the district, which had become the heart of Black Portland. One publicly funded project after the next — Interstate 5, Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the headquarters for Portland Public School — forced out hundreds of Black residents.
On this episode of Beat Check with The Oregonian, reporter Rob Davis interviews Sharon Gary-Smith, who was displaced from her home in the Albina district in 1961. She discussed what it was like to return to the street where she grew up, the types of word choices The Oregonian made and what she wants to see from the newspaper going forward.

The Publishing Prejudice series

Letter from the Editor: An update on newsroom diversity initiatives


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why Tho? The Podcast goes behind the scenes of Lizzy Acker's advice column for The Oregonian. Listen each week as Lizzy, producer Destiny Johnson and occasional guests dissect reader questions for future columns. New episodes come out every Thursday right here in the Beat Check with The Oregonian feed.
In the first episode, Lizzy and Destiny talk about some of the best and worst advice they've ever gotten and what advice they'd give to their younger selves. They also go through Reddit's popular forum r/AmItheAsshole and give their opinions.
More:

Find the full archive of the Why Tho? advice column here: https://www.oregonlive.com/advice/2022/03/read-more-why-tho.html

Lizzy’s advice also appears in our weekly advice newsletter. Want to get it? Subscribe now: https://link.oregonlive.com/join/6fk/signup

Have a burning question for Lizzy? Send her an email at lacker@oregonian.com or tweet @lizzzyacker!

Or better yet, text Lizzy your question as a Why Tho? insider. Sign up here: https://www.oregonlive.com/advice/2022/03/read-more-why-tho.html


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Heat pumps are soaring in popularity due to their energy efficiency and ability to reduce utility bills. Brian Stewart, the co-founder of Portland-based nonprofit Electrify Now, talked about why heat pumps beat gas stoves most of the time and how to afford one.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why Tho? The Podcast goes behind the scenes of Lizzy Acker's advice column for The Oregonian. Listen each week as Lizzy, producer Destiny Johnson and occasional guests dissect reader questions for future columns. New episodes come out every Thursday right here in the Beat Check with The Oregonian feed.
More:

Find the full archive of the Why Tho? advice column here: https://www.oregonlive.com/advice/2022/03/read-more-why-tho.html

Lizzy’s advice also appears in our weekly advice newsletter. Want to get it? Subscribe now: https://link.oregonlive.com/join/6fk/signup

Have a burning question for Lizzy? Send her an email at lacker@oregonian.com or tweet @lizzzyacker!

Or better yet, text Lizzy your question as a Why Tho? insider. Sign up here: https://www.oregonlive.com/advice/2022/03/read-more-why-tho.html


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re excited to announce that the Beat Check with The Oregonian podcast is coming back starting Monday, May 29. But it’s going to sound a little different. We’ll still take you behind the headlines of the biggest news stories in Oregon. But now, it’ll be with a new crew of hosts.
You’ll hear from reporter Shane Dixon Kavanaugh who covers City Hall, Gosia Wozniacka who covers the environment, Elliot Njus who’s the business editor and Therese Bottomly, vice president of content at The Oregonian/OregonLive.
They’ll take turns hosting every week and share insights and analysis from The Oregonian’s hard-working journalist and subject matter experts. They’ll dive deep into the topics that matter to you.
So join them, every Monday, for a new episode of Beat Check with The Oregonian.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What would you do if someone you loved vanished and was never heard from again? That was the case for several families we interviewed on the first five episodes of The Unidentifieds podcast.
In previous episodes, we explored the rapidly expanding use of genetic genealogy in finding the identities of long lost souls whose remains were found in Oregon.
We told the stories of a nomadic Navy veteran, a young woman who liked to sing, a girl who wore a pink plaid coat and mother of pearl ring, and a little boy whose time on earth was too short.
They all vanished in Oregon. But they were all also found in Oregon. Their stories told, and their names said aloud once again, thanks to the help of passionate experts, their families and advances in DNA technology and genetic genealogy.
On the final episode of The Unidentifieds, hosts Regan Mertz and Dave Killen unpack the emotional toll on families and how getting answers about their loved ones’ fates – even if decades later – brings closure.
The investigators and scientists who worked on the cold cases reflect on how each person’s story lingers in their memory, long after the cases were solved.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices