Noted transportation reporter Dylan Rivera was among 37 employees laid off by The Oregonian today.
Rivera was The Oregonian’s main reporter on the complex and sometimes controversial Columbia River Crossing project. His most recent article (published this morning) focused on a report by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy that featured Portland’s downtown parking policies. Rivera has also written many bike-related stories — from bike parking at Portland State University to Sunday Parkways.
Rivera’s contribution to public knowledge and discourse about vital local and regional transportation issues will be sorely missed. If you’re a fan of his work, follow Rivera via Facebook or Twitter.
Read more about today’s layoffs on the Portland Mercury blog.
Thanks for reading.
BikePortland has served this community with independent community journalism since 2005. We rely on subscriptions from readers like you to survive. Your financial support is vital in keeping this valuable resource alive and well.
Please subscribe today to strengthen and expand our work.
Maybe Joseph Rose will take his place.
I have to say Dylan gave some balanced coverage for our CRC rally and our stance and the issues last summer. Another hole in the O’s reporter wall.
Dylan was also great on the Sellwood Bridge coverage. Good luck, Dylan!
I’ll miss the guy. It’s too bad to see him go. Maybe the Merc could pick him up.
I feel sorry for the staff layoffs at the O but it is understandable. Newspapers are hurting everywhere in the internet age, but the O has decided long ago to be an antagonist to everything this city is about. Their editorial page is right wing in a liberal city, they have become anti-bike in a biking city and in general are so far out of touch with what is going on here they deserve their fate.
The recent editorial bias especially toward right wing loon land is just a plain suicidal move. Sorry for Dylan but good riddance to the Oregonian!
I predict that the Boregonian will eventually go the way of far better newspapers (like the Seattle P-I, for one) and switch to an online-only format; or just fold altogether. Sad but not surprising.
How is it possible that such a reading city as this has such a horrible daily?
I agree with Old & Slow (possibly b/c I am also old & slow) The paper is completely out of touch with their closest geographic audience. I cancelled my 9 yr subscription solely based on their editorial stance. Too bad, I miss a local relevant paper
I echo prior comments. I would gladly subscribe to a reasonable newspaper, but that’s not the O. I’m sure Dylan will find a better employer…
Dylan is an amazing journalist. I am so sorry to hear this news and wish him the best of luck in the future!
Didn’t mean to ignore Dylan’s plight, but he’s better off not working there.
Rivera’s reporting will be missed. Here’s to seeing it in another venue sometime soon.
I’ve always tried to mention the Oregonian’s good points…it does have some decent reporting…mixed in with and buried amidst too much crap too much of the time; I expect for a lot of readers, the recent addition of the weird front page half wrapper was the O’s final nail.
But dumping 37 of its employees…for certain, a bunch of them writers and reporters? With that limitation, it’s hard to understand how the paper can avoid deteriorating to a condition worse than it is already.
Maybe the Campbell family that owns the Columbian (a genuine locally-owned newspaper) can find a place for this man.
The Oregonian sounds like they’d really like to be a Rupert Murdoch paper.
Dylan is the epitome of journalism his 10 years covering real estate and transportation in one of the most admired and studied ubran planned communities as PDX will surely be more than missed at the O. It is a sad day for print journalism.
I rarely ever pay 1$ for a newspaper anymore, it is probably only a mater of time before it if e-edition only. that would be sad, I still prefer to leaf through a newspaper in my hand than to go oonline- I think you miss little things online. The oregonian will still need reporters. Perhaps he can do better freelancing? Good luck to everyone at the oregonian
Thanks for the praise, folks. It’s humbling and gratifying to be singled out that way.
I’ll still be around, and of course, looking for work.
Dylan
dylan(underscore)rivera(at)yahoo(dot)com
Exactly the problem – is that more and more people rarely if ever pay for a newspaper (I’ve been a subscriber for years, despite its flaws), hence the Oregonian can’t pay reporters.
I’ll definitely miss Dylan’s writing and coverage – it’s the sort of well-researched, well-written work that we’re losing as the world moves into a soundbite and blog-driven discourse (that’s not meant to be a statement about BikePortland, just our general direction).