EO Media Group plans to fill void left by loss of Medford's Mail-Tribune

MEDFORD, Ore. – After only a week without the Mail Tribune, the Rogue Valley won’t have to wait long to get a replacement for the long-time newspaper.

A new venture will be called The Tribune.

“We anticipate being able to launch in the next 7 to 10 days with a website and hopefully get a newsletter up,” EO Media chief operating officer Heidi Wright said.

The Mail Tribune was around for over 100 years.

It shut down last week, just days after telling staff it was ceasing operations.

Now, EO Media Group, which owns over a dozen small newspapers across Oregon, like the Bend Bulletin, will be starting a brand new paper, with a similar name.

Wright said it was the right time to begin a new publication in the Rogue Valley.

“With the Medford mail tribune shutting down, it’s something that we do feel like we have a play book to build a sustainable business model and it’s a very attractive market,” she said.

Wright said an online version will be updated daily.

She anticipates a physical paper will be published three times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

EO Media is bringing in a former long-time editor at the Mail Tribune, Bob Hunter, to help the company find reporters.

He says it’s critical that the community has a local newspaper.

“It’s great that there’s going to be a newspaper in Medford again,” Hunter said. “And their gung ho and very committed to community journalism, which is what I think they need to do.”

Wright said they are looking to hire 32 people for various departments, including 14 in the newsroom.

The plan is to hire many of the Mail Tribune’s former reporters.

Before that paper shut down, Wright said there was hope they could purchase the paper from CEO Steven Zaslow.

“We just couldn’t come to an agreement,” Wright said. “And unfortunately I believe he was talking to a number of other parties and over an extended period of time.”

Now, they are actively looking for an office space and a production facility for the paper.

When The Tribune launches, Wright said like any other newspaper, there will be a digital subscription and an additional charge if you’d like a physical paper delivered.