Get to know your new Woodburn Independent staff

Have you noticed the new names appearing across the Woodburn Independent? It’s no coincidence.

Reporters at our partner newspapers across Washington, Columbia and Yamhill counties have been working hard to cover Woodburn and the surrounding communities, on top of their typical beats in the past few weeks as we’ve looked to fill some key positions at the Independent.

Now, the Woodburn Independent is proud to introduce Sophia Cossette as the new full-time reporter for the paper.

Cossette will serve as a general assignment reporter, covering everything from city hall to local events, personalities and more. She replaces outgoing reporter Justin Much.

Cossette joins the Woodburn Independent after graduating from the University of Oregon in September with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.

In college, she was a Charles Snowden intern with the Forest Grove and Hillsboro News-Times. She also was an investigative reporting intern at Eugene Weekly through the Catalyst Journalism Project and was the opinion editor at the University of Oregon’s independent student newspaper, The Daily Emerald.

What about management?

With the retirement of longtime Woodburn Independent publisher Al Herriges, regional publisher Nikki DeBuse took the helm as publisher at both papers in July.

DeBuse is also regional publisher for the Forest Grove and Hillsboro News-Times; Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin and Sherwood Times; and the Columbia County Spotlight. She began her career as a reporter at Woodburn Independent in 1988 and lives in Woodburn with her family.

Meanwhile, regional editor Lauren Bishop has overseen those papers since December 2023, adding the Woodburn Independent to her roster in July. Bishop was a reporter and then assistant editor for the Washington and Columbia County papers since October 2022. Prior, she spent 2.5 years at the family-owned daily newspaper the Grants Pass Daily Courier.

Cossette, DeBuse and Bishop are here to cover what matters most to the readers of Woodburn and the surrounding areas. Have an idea for a story? Reach out to Cossette at Scossette@woodburnindependent.com or Bishop at Lbishop@pamplinmedia.com. Want to place an ad or have a general inquiry? Contact DeBuse at ndebuse@woodburnindependent.com.

Susan Vetter remains our sales representative and has been serving the Woodburn community for more than 40 years. She can be reached at Svetter@woodburnindependent.com.

Thank you for your loyal readership and continued support of the paper. If we didn’t tell these stories, who would?