Leadership at the Newberg Graphic and Woodburn Independent will see a significant change in the coming weeks as Al Herriges is retiring.
The longtime publisher of both newspapers, who took over for Joe Petshow in February 2007, is capping off a career in newspapers that began at age 15 stuffing inserts into the Daily Inter Lake’s Sunday edition in Kalispell, Montana, his home town.
He started in newspaper advertising in 1980 at the Observer in LaGrande, then migrated to The World in Coos Bay, the Dalles Chronicle, Hood River News and then back to Chronicle in The Dalles.
A Newberg resident since taking over as publisher, Herriges first migrated to Oregon in the 1970s while a student at Montana State University.
“I left college and followed my parents to The Dalles in 1975 because I wasn’t thrilled about being a broke college student anymore,” he quipped.
All told, Herriges has spent 17 years in the employ of the Graphic’s former owner, Eagle Newspapers, and 16 with Pamplin Media Group. He also worked for Scripps League Newspapers and Western Communications. Herriges’ career at PMG, which began in 2001 as a retail account manager, was sandwiched around working at Eagle Newspapers before PMG purchased the Graphic and five other former Eagle papers in 2013.
Herriges, 68, worked for the Graphic and Independent’s new owner, Carpenter Media Group, for seven weeks before his retirement, which becomes official July 25.
“Al has been a valuable leader within the Pamplin Media organization,” said J. Brian Monihan, regional publisher for the Carpenter Media Group. “I hope our readers appreciate his years of service in Woodburn and Newberg. His dedication to community journalism is something that I will always appreciate. I’m happy that he can retire now and we wish him the best.”
While in Newberg, Herriges was involved in myriad nonprofit organizations, most notably the Newberg Noon Rotary, Chehalem Valley Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Newberg Revitalization Committee and as a board member for the Newberg Downtown Coalition. He also served for several years on the board of the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association.
His plans for retirement involve “mostly just work on home projects so my wife, Rene, and I can enjoy the weekends,” he said, adding that the couple hasn’t plotted just where they will end up in the future. “We will stay in Newberg for now but not sure where we’ll end up in the long term. We’ve always thought about wanting to live in central Oregon, but Newberg is close to family so this is where we’ll stay.”
That family includes three biological children, seven grandchildren, two stepchildren and one step-grandchild “on the way,” he said.
Herriges was reflective on his term at the paper, offering a cautionary word on the role of journalism in the community:
“If having a strong community is important to the residents, and it should be for the good of the community, then being informed is vital. The only way you can be informed is to read the Newberg Graphic or Independent, whether it be in print, the digital version or the website, but be informed and make a positive difference.”
DeBuse to take over reins of newspaper
Nikki DeBuse, a longtime employee of Eagle Newspapers and PMG, will add Herriges’ duties at the Graphic and the Independent to those she has already assumed at the News-Times, covering Forest Grove and Hillsboro; The Times, covering Tigard, Tualatin, Sherwood and Beaverton; and the Columbia County Spotlight. She welcomed the opportunity and wished her predecessor well.
“Al has been a servant to his community and I hope to be able to fill his shoes,” DeBuse said. “I’m excited to return to Woodburn and rekindle old friendships, and to make create new partnerships in Newberg.”
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