The staff of Eugene Weekly – a weekly news publication in Eugene since 1982 – announced an alleged embezzlement scandal at the hands of a described “trusted” EW employee in a Dec. 28 article. The extent of the publication’s losses is still unknown and pending investigation.
EW said that the alleged embezzlement has cost the newspaper thousands of dollars in lost funds, placing the future of Eugene’s long-time beloved weekly newspaper into uncertainty.
“The Weekly’s fighting for a life now, we could very well go under if we don’t get enough support,” EW arts section editor Bob Keefer said. “Which would be a tragedy, [the] Weekly [has] been publishing for 40 years.”
On Dec. 14, EW staff were notified of the alleged embezzlement. On Dec. 21, EW laid off its entire staff of approximately 10 employees, not including its numerous paper delivery drivers. One week later, the publication, which has published a print newspaper every Thursday for over 20 years, did not print an issue.
Besides reporting the alleged theft to the Eugene Police Department – who is investigating the matter – EW has now hired a team of private forensic accountants to comb through the years of financial records to determine the full impact of the alleged theft.
“We’re heartbroken to have to tell you that this independent voice is in danger of falling silent. There will be no print paper edition of EW, for the first time in more than 20 years. And we are fighting like hell to print another one,” read the Dec. 28 article.
It is unknown if and when EW will be able to return to normal operations. Since the mass layoff, many staff members have volunteered to continue writing online articles for the newspaper.
Since the announcement, Keefer reported already receiving an outpouring of support from the Eugene community, but was candid about the challenges ahead.
“We just don’t know how things are going to go,” Keefer said. “We’ve gotten a very, very encouraging response to the news that we put online today. We’ve already had some thousands of dollars donated.”
Keefer said employees are also feeling tremendous betrayal from the estimated years of alleged theft by a fellow coworker.
“It’s a small organization and you work together, you trust one another and everyone feels pretty intensely betrayed,” Keefer said. “The initial reaction, of course, on everyone’s part was absolute just white-hot anger that somebody would do this. I just think the story to me is one of trust and betrayal.”
In the article, titled “Where’s the Damn Paper?,” EW acknowledged the need for tighter financial oversight, saying, “We should have had tighter financial systems. We have learned a hard lesson.”
While the full amount of money allegedly embezzled is unknown, EW further announced that as a result many of their vendors including their print press had not been paid in months.
“We’ve discovered that many companies we do business with — vendors who turned out to be very patient — haven’t been paid in months,” the announcement said.
It was further discovered that EW employees’ payouts to their retirement fund never actually made it to the correct destination as a result of the alleged theft.
Keefer commented asking the community to “not lose faith,” saying, “We’re going to try to bring it back. To do that we’re going to need financial support, but we’ll also need people to work down the line and say, okay, as soon as the paper’s back, you know, we’ll buy an ad for our business.”
EW, which was founded in 1982, publishes 30,000 paper issues every Thursday free of cost and has been run on the sole support of in-paper advertisement and the personal funds of their owners – who have, according to EW, never taken a profit from the business.
“The damage is more than most small businesses can bear. The scale of this moment is unlike anything we have ever faced,” said the announcement. “But we believe in this newspaper’s mission and we remain determined to keep EW alive.”
Melinda McLaughlin, public information director for the EPD, acknowledged that EPD took a report on Dec. 19 regarding the alleged theft, but declined to comment further, citing that it was a pending investigation.
EW has set up a page to continue accepting donations.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.