This summer, Therese Bottomly, the executive editor and longstanding newsroom leader of The Oregonian/OregonLive, will retire.
Over the course of her 42-year career, Bottomly has established herself as a model journalist and an advocate for open government.
She advocates for accountability reporting in the business and has protected journalists’ access to public records and meetings at The Oregonian and other smaller media outlets throughout the state by using her legal knowledge.
Bottomly, now 63, began her award-winning career at The Oregonian with an internship on the copy desk shortly after graduating with a summa cum laude degree from the University of Oregon in 1983. Bottomly, who was chosen as a senior editor in 1993 and promoted to managing editor in 1998, gained rapid leadership recognition for her steel-trap memory and ability to remain composed under pressure.
In 2020, she led The Oregonian/OregonLive through one of its most turbulent times as the staff dealt with coverage of the pandemic, nightly protests in Portland after George Floyd was killed, and Oregon’s deadly wildfires. She was appointed the news organization’s vice president of content in 2018.
August 1st will be her last day.
Therese is the epitome of what makes a great newsroom leader. “Throughout her career, she has led stories, big and small, that have helped us fulfill our mission and had a lasting impact on the Oregon market,” said Caroline Harrison, CEO of Advance Local, the parent company of The Oregonian. “She is incredibly respected by her peers, a mentor to her staff, ready to embrace technological change, whip smart, and impeccably principled.” Although she will be missed, her legacy will live on forever.
Since 2006, Bottomly has been the newsroom’s public editor, addressing reader issues about coverage and bringing them to the attention of reporters and editors as part of her leadership responsibilities. Her commitment to truthfulness, morality, and equity impacted generations of journalists, and she frequently pushed editors and reporters to reconsider language and procedures in the internet era.
A clean slate committee was established by The Oregonian/OregonLive under her direction to consider petitions from people convicted of minor offenses to have previous news articles that disproportionately negatively affect their lives removed. Additionally, she backed the establishment of a diversity, equity, and inclusion committee, which grew to become one of the Advance Local chain’s most active and successful.
According to John Maher, president of Oregonian Media Group, Therese has been a remarkable leader for our organization and a real pillar in our community. Her commitment to training the upcoming generation of journalists and her steadfast ethics have made a lasting impression on our company. We shall all be inspired by her legacy of openness, responsibility, and excellence.
The business will begin a nationwide hunt for Bottomly’s replacement.
Bottomly placed a high priority on openness from the government and the journalists. She wrote a weekly column to provide readers insight into the workings of the newsroom and maintained an open door policy for her employees.
Bottomly enthusiastically backed the multi-story series, Publishing Prejudice, by her investigative team, which explored the newspaper’s racist past, its role in promoting xenophobic and discriminatory policies, and its effects on the community. Bottomly wrote a post in the well reported series in which she expressed regret on behalf of the organization while acknowledging that there is still more work to be done.
She argued that we need to keep an eye out for stories we could be missing and be aware of our unconscious prejudices. We are dedicated to bringing attention to injustices and acknowledge that racism is still widespread.
Gunderson, Laura, 503-221-8378
