Portland Mercury is an alternative bi-weekly newspaper and media company founded in 2000 in Portland, Oregon. Its revenue model is strongly connected on advertisement and sales of tickets for events and concerts. Nearly 95% of its revenue comes from advertisement. It has a sibling publication in Seattle, Washington called The Stranger.
Contributors and staff
Editor-in-Chief: Wm. Steven Humphrey Executive Editor: Erik Henriksen News: Alex Zielinski, Blair Stenvick Music: Jenni Moore Food: Andrea Damewood Movies & TV: Erik Henriksen Arts: Suzette Smith Copy Chief: Robert Ham Calendar:Bobby Roberts, Chipp Terwilliger Current list retrieved on November 7, 2019. Portland Mercury has also published the work of a number of notable writers and personalities including: Chelsea Cain, Chuck Palahniuk, Dan Savage, David Schmader, and Sean Tejaratchi.
Contents
Along with a regularly updated website and blog titled Blogtown, a print edition is released bi-weekly. The publication chronicles the Portland music scene and features news and political articles, interviews, editorials, humorous columns, reviews, and cultural event listings. It also publishes Dan Savage's long-running syndicated advice columnSavage Love and comic strips including: Maakies, Kaz's Underworld, and Idiot Box.
Columns
Portland Mercury publishes columns that often have a satirical or humorous tone. The publication's established columnists have included Dan Savage, Ann Romano, and Ian Karmel. The paper also often features fictional columns written by characters from pop culture or those created by members of the staff. These columns have included Elementary School Crime Blotter by Jerry Masterson, Imbecile Parade by Frank Cassano, and One Hulk's Opinion by the Incredible Hulk.
History
The current Portland Mercury launched in June 2000. The paper describes their readership as "affluent urbanites in their 20s and 30s." Its print edition was published weekly until fall 2018 when it changed to bi-weekly beginning with the issue released on September 13, 2018. The paper's name as displayed on the nameplate was shortened to just Mercury as well. On March 14, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the paper temporarily suspended print publication and switched to online only. In addition, it laid off 10 employees, which comprised half of the publication's staff.
The original ''Mercury''
A weekly newspaper called The Mercury and later The Sunday Mercury was founded in Salem in 1869, and moved to Portland a few years later. Oregon writer Homer Davenport described approaching the Mercury when he arrived in Portland as a young man, and being sent to New Orleans to cover and draw pictures of the Fitzsimmons-Dempsey fight. The Mercury was best known for being the subject of a major libel lawsuit involving attorney and writer C.E.S. Wood. The Oregon Supreme Court ruled against O. P. Mason and B. P. Watson, and the newspaper itself was turned over to receiver A. A. Rosenthal. Rosenthal promised to "make a decent paper of it," but the paper was raided by the Portland district attorney's office later that year and suppressed for publishing offensive material. An article later published in The Oregonian praised the plaintiffs for having "abolished a publication insidiously demoralizing as well as unspeakably offensive."
