Carpenter Media Group, the parent company of this newspaper, announced on Tuesday, Oct. 23 that it would be purchasing EO Media Group, a family-owned media company that operates more than two dozen newspapers and magazines across Oregon and Washington, including the Bend Bulletin.

Carpenter Media Group will formally acquire EO Media on Nov. 1, according to the two companies.

In addition to the Bulletin, EO Media operates the East Oregonian newspaper in Pendleton, as well as The Astorian, Chinook Observer, Seaside Signal, Redmond Spokesman, Rogue Valley Times, The Hermiston Herald,  La Grande Observer, Baker City Herald, Blue Mountain Eagle, the Wallowa County Chieftain, Capital Press and several other publications.

Founded in 1908 as the East Oregonian Publishing Company, EO Media has been owned and operated by four generations of the Aldrich and Forrester families. The company purchased The Bulletin and Redmond Spokesman newspapers in 2019 and opened the Rogue Valley Times in Medford in 2023.

In a statement, Stephen A. Forrester, President and CEO of EO Media Group, said the family’s long history in Oregon journalism has made the company a pillar of several Oregon communities.

“The roots of my sentiment stretch back to the 1950s, when I first entered the old East Oregonian building in Pendleton,” Forrester shared. “My father’s office had once been my grandfather’s, Edwin Burton Aldrich. Over decades, our family has worked to build lasting connections with the communities we serve, especially in places like Pendleton and Astoria.”

Kathryn B. Brown, Vice President of EO Media, highlighted several examples of EO Media’s community impact.

“My great-grandfather and the East Oregonian were involved in starting the Pendleton Round-Up, and my grandmother, Amy Bedford, put much of her life into creation of the Pendleton River Parkway,” Brown said.

Forrester added, “In Astoria, The Daily Astorian led a decade-long drive to restore the Liberty Theater. And in John Day, we were enormously proud of our publisher of the Blue Mountain Eagle, Marissa Williams, and our editor Scotta Callister for standing up to the Aryan Nation, which sought to establish a new homeland in Grant County in 2010.”

Carpenter Media Group operates more than 200 publications across the U.S. and Canada, including the Portland Tribune and several Oregon newspaper formerly owned by Pamplin Media Group, which it acquired earlier this year.

Carpenter Media Group Chairman Todd Carpenter said in a statement that the legacy of the Forrester family and the tradition of high-quality, community-focused journalism, will continue.

“We plan to build on the foundations put down by the Forrester family as we continue to innovate and work to support true professional journalism for each community served,” said Carpenter. “We know our readers depend on us for timely reporting of facts so they can be informed and contribute to improvement of the places they live. We pledge to work hard to meet that obligation as we simultaneously work to serve small and medium-size business with marketing programs that strengthen the business, the community and thus the newspaper. We are all in it together and have a vested interest in strengthening the institutions that make us a community, beginning with its newspaper.”