Medford's time as a "news desert" was short. The century-old Mail Tribune stopped putting out even its virtual paper after the edition of Friday, the 13th of January. By then, the Daily Courier of Grants Pass was already filling subscriptions in Jackson County, and quickly hired three former MT staffers to cover more Medford-area news.
The EO Media Group, owners of The Bulletin in Bend and other papers, also hustled to fill the void, announcing plans to launch the Rogue Valley Tribune. The website went live this week (February 6th), featuring works by some other former Mail Tribune staffers, including former editor Bob Hunter.
Heidi Wright is the Chief Operating Officer for EO Media; she and editor Dave Smigelski (another MT vet) visits to talk about the opportunities and challenges of establishing a newspaper (really printed) in a smallish town in the 2020s.