Capital Press

About Capital Press

Capital Press is a weekly agricultural newspaper published in Salem, Oregon, covering farming, ranching, and the agriculture industries of the Pacific Northwest and West Coast. Founded in February 1928 as the Hollywood Press by Abner M. Church, it was renamed Capital Press in December 1932 and converted to agricultural coverage in the 1960s. Owned by EO Media Group until its October 2024 sale to Carpenter Media Group, the paper serves the region's diverse agricultural community with news on crops, livestock, policy, and markets. With print circulation of 20,090 and digital circulation of 1,183 as of 2023, it remains the West's dedicated farm weekly. Under publisher Joe Beach, it continues its mission of serving the agricultural industries of the Pacific Northwest. It publishes at capitalpress.com.

Founding as the Hollywood Press

The newspaper was established in February 1928 as the Hollywood Press by Abner M. Church, a community newspaper serving the Hollywood neighborhood of Salem, Oregon's capital city. In December 1932, the name was changed to Capital Press, reflecting its broader ambitions in the capital city. Church sold the paper in 1946 to Dewey Rand Sr. and Henry M. Hanzen, at which time it still focused solely on the Hollywood neighborhood. The paper's origins as a neighborhood weekly gave it deep roots in Salem's community life, a foundation that would support its later transformation into a regional agricultural institution.

The agricultural pivot

In the 1960s, the Rand family changed the paper's focus to agriculture after noticing that many farmers bought classified ads in the newspaper and recognizing them as an underserved market. This pivot was a stroke of publishing insight: the classified advertising that farmers placed revealed a readership the paper wasn't serving editorially. The transformation from neighborhood weekly to agricultural newspaper repositioned the publication for regional rather than local relevance. The agricultural focus gave the paper a distinctive mission and a loyal readership among the Pacific Northwest's farmers and ranchers, whose information needs were poorly served by general newspapers.

Ownership history

In 1990, Dewey Rand Jr. sold the newspaper to the East Oregonian Publishing Company, bringing it into the EO Media Group family alongside the East Oregonian, the Astorian, and other Northwest publications. Under EO Media's ownership, Capital Press expanded its agricultural coverage across the West Coast, with editions serving different regions. In October 2024, EO Media Group was sold to Carpenter Media Group, the Mississippi-based newspaper company, placing Capital Press under new corporate ownership. Through these transitions, the paper maintained its Salem headquarters at 1400 Broadway St. NE and its focus on Western agriculture.

Editorial scope

Capital Press covers the farming, ranching, and agriculture industries of the Pacific Northwest: Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and California. Its reporting spans the region's diverse agricultural sectors, from wheat and potatoes to orchards, vineyards, dairy, and cattle. The paper covers agricultural policy, from water rights to labor regulations to trade, with the depth that general media cannot match. Its market coverage gives producers the price and trend information their businesses require. The weekly broadsheet format serves readers who value the reflective pace of print, while the digital edition extends coverage online.

Serving Western agriculture

The Pacific Northwest's agriculture, with its irrigation-dependent crops, specialty products, and export orientation, presents distinctive journalism challenges that Capital Press is uniquely positioned to meet. The paper's coverage of water issues, from drought to irrigation infrastructure to endangered species regulations, addresses the region's most critical agricultural concern. Its reporting on labor, trade, and environmental regulation serves producers navigating complex compliance landscapes. The paper's regional editions recognize the West's agricultural diversity: the wheat country of Eastern Oregon and Washington differs profoundly from the Willamette Valley or California's Central Valley.

Community role

Capital Press serves as the Pacific Northwest agricultural community's newspaper of record, documenting the industry's achievements and challenges. Its coverage of Century Farms and Sesquicentennial Farms honors the families who have farmed Oregon for generations. The paper's agricultural education partnerships, including its Newspapers in Education program providing classroom materials on agricultural current events, invest in the next generation's understanding of farming. For the region's agricultural community, the paper provides both practical information and cultural affirmation: recognition that farming matters.

Columnists and voices

The paper's columnists have given it distinctive voices across the decades. Bill Duncan published a column from 1981 until his death in 2011, and the News-Review of Roseburg deemed his work still pertinent enough to republish. These long-running columns created relationships between writers and readers that sustained the paper's community role. The opinion pages provide a forum for the agricultural community's debates, from policy disagreements to industry controversies. For a regional industry, this forum function is as valuable as the news coverage: it gives the community a place to talk to itself.

Water and natural resources

Capital Press covers the water issues that define Western agriculture's future with unmatched depth. Its reporting addresses irrigation infrastructure, drought management, groundwater regulation, and the endangered species conflicts that constrain water use. Coverage of the region's major water systems, from the Columbia River to the Klamath Basin to California's State Water Project, gives readers understanding of the resource politics shaping their operations. The paper's water journalism serves producers whose livelihoods depend on reliable irrigation in an aridifying West. For policymakers and the public, this coverage provides insight into the agricultural stakes of water decisions. The water beat reflects the paper's regional expertise: no national publication covers Western agricultural water with comparable authority.

Policy and regulation coverage

Capital Press covers the policy and regulatory landscape affecting Western agriculture, from labor laws to environmental regulations to trade agreements. Its reporting on immigration and farm labor addresses the workforce issues critical to the region's labor-intensive crops. Coverage of pesticide regulation, land use, and endangered species gives producers insight into the compliance challenges they face. The paper's Salem location, in Oregon's capital, positions it to cover state government decisions with proximity and expertise. For Western producers navigating an increasingly complex regulatory environment, this policy journalism provides essential intelligence. The coverage connects government actions to farm-level consequences, the translation that makes policy relevant.

Livestock coverage

Capital Press covers the Pacific Northwest's livestock industries, from cattle ranching to dairy to the region's diverse animal agriculture. Its reporting addresses range management, animal health, grazing policy, and the economics of livestock production in the West. Coverage of public lands grazing, wolf predation, and water access gives ranchers insight into the issues affecting their operations. For the region's livestock producers, this journalism provides the specialized coverage that general media cannot. The livestock beat reflects the paper's understanding that Western agriculture encompasses both crops and animals, each with distinct challenges.

Market reports. Capital Press's market reports give Western producers the price intelligence their businesses require. Its coverage of commodity markets, from wheat and potatoes to cattle and hay, connects daily price movements to the forces shaping them. For producers whose profitability depends on marketing decisions, these reports provide essential business information with regional relevance that national market coverage cannot match.

Website and outlook

Capital Press publishes at capitalpress.com from Salem, Oregon, where its weekly journalism serves the agricultural industries of the Pacific Northwest and West Coast. From Abner Church's 1928 Hollywood Press through the 1960s agricultural pivot, the EO Media era, and the 2024 Carpenter Media acquisition, the paper has remained the West's dedicated farm weekly. As Western agriculture confronts water scarcity, labor challenges, and market volatility, Capital Press continues its mission of providing the news and analysis the region's producers need.