Steve Bagwell, adjunct professor of mass communication at Linfield College and managing editor of the McMinnville News-Register, is co-author of a book that examines the newspaper industry in Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
“New Editions: The Northwest’s Newspapers as They Were, Are, and Will Be,” written by Bagwell and Randy Stapilus, reviews the evolution of every newspaper produced in the Northwest. The newspaper industry has always been in a state of change and its demise has consistently been a topic of discussion. Bagwell and Stapilus argue that newspapers of the future may be quite different from those of today.
The book, published by Ridenbaugh Press in Carlton, traces the evolution of individual papers from locally, often family-owned publications to the ownership consolidation of larger groups. It also discusses the reasoning behind publishers’ and editors’ decisions to produce, or not produce, online editions. Many of the region’s editors and publishers offer their own comments and observations on the present and future of Northwest newspapers.
Bagwell, who has taught at Linfield since 2000, has nearly 40 years of newspaper experience, primarily in the Northwest. He has been a photographer, reporter and editor at numerous newspapers including the Coos Bay World, Springfield News, The Daily Astorian, The Oregon Statesman, Salem Statesman Journal, The Idaho Statesman, The Bulletin in Bend and the News-Register. He has a bachelor’s degree in history from Stanford University and a master’s from the University of Oregon.
His co-author, Stapilus, is the publisher of Ridenbaugh Press. Stapilus has also been a reporter in Idaho. “New Editions” is available through an array of venues, including Ridenbaugh and Amazon online.
