MICHAEL DUNNE: I’m Michael Dunne. the Register Guard has been on a roller coaster ride of late. First, the Baker family sold the paper after years and years of ownership, then the move to a large out of state corporate owner and a whittling down of staff. The changes have left many people in the community less than thrilled about the state of the community’s paper of record and wonder if it’s even a local entity anymore. Well, today on the show, you’ll hear from the new editor of the RG, a proud Duck, who’s returning home to run the paper she read decades ago. She feels strongly about localism and restoring both trust and readership for the Register Guard as both a paper and a digital news service. Even though she’s been in the Midwest for years, new Register Guard editor Jill Bond grew up in Eugene, graduated from the U of O, and knows how important the local paper is and will be to the community going forward. I chatted with her via zoom at her home in Indiana as she prepares to head west and run the paper. She grew up reading. Jill Bond, the new editor of the Register Guard, welcome to the show.
JILL BOND: Thank you. Thanks for inviting me.
MICHAEL DUNNE: This is a bit of a homecoming for you. Talk about your time previously in Eugene…