The ''Columbia County Spotlight'', previously known as the ''Scappoose Spotlight'' and the ''South County Spotlight'', is a

weekly newspaper Weekly newspaper is a general-news or Current affairs (news format), current affairs publication that is issued once or twice a week in a wide variety broadsheet, magazine, and electronic publishing, digital formats. Similarly, a biweekly newspap ...

in Columbia County,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, United States, established in 1961. The paper serves Scappoose and St. Helens, and covers communities along Highway 30 from Linnton and

Sauvie Island Sauvie Island is in the U.S. state of Oregon, originally named as Wapato Island or Wappatoo Island. It is the largest island along the Columbia River, at , and one of the largest river islands in the United States. It lies approximately north ...

to Clatskanie. The editorial staff is based in Scappoose, while some administration and creative services are based in Milwaukie at the headquarters of

Pamplin Media Group The Pamplin Media Group (PMG) is a media conglomerate owned by Carpenter Media Group and operating primarily in the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Robert B. Pamplin, Jr. founded the company in 2001 and sold it to Carpe ...

, which owns the newspaper. The ''Spotlight'' is one of a number of community newspapers in the group, including the '' Forest Grove News-Times'' and the ''

Hillsboro Tribune The ''Hillsboro Tribune'' was a weekly newspaper that covered the city of Hillsboro in the U.S. state of Oregon and was published from 2012 to 2019. It was replaced in 2019 by a Hillsboro edition of the Forest Grove '' News-Times'', a sister pub ...

''. It is a general member of the

Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association The Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association is a trade association for all paid-circulation daily, weekly, and multi-weekly newspapers in the U.S. state of Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the ...

and its coverage has been cited by other newspapers in the area, including ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

.'' The paper it is part of the Northwest News Partnership, along with ''Daily Astorian'' and the EO Media Group.

History

Paul Robinson established the ''Vernonia Eagle'' in August 1922. He sold it to Mark Moe in the late 1920s, and the paper was owned by Ray Fisher in the 1930s. Marvin Kamholz purchased the ''Eagle'' in 1937, and sold it to Jerry Moore in 1970 along with the ''Scappoose Spotlight,'' established in 1961. The two papers were merged in September 1974 to form the ''Columbia County Herald'', but maintained separate front pages for the Scappoose and Vernonia editions. Moore published the paper until 1975 when he died at age 39. The paper was then acquired by Don Van Deusen, who owned the '' St. Johns Review''. By 2012, the newspaper was called the ''South County Spotlight'' and owned by

. In 2024, Robert B. Pamplin Jr. sold his newspaper company, including the ''Columbia County Spotlight'', to Carpenter Media Group.

References

External links

Official website
{{Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association Newspapers published in Oregon Columbia County, Oregon 1961 establishments in Oregon Newspapers published by Pamplin Media Group Newspapers established in 1961