Reporter's Notebook

Friend or foe: what is the media’s role in hard times?

This has not been the best week for Northwest business.

To name a few key happenings:
A week ago today, Bank of Clark County was in the midst of its last day of operation before being shut down by the Washington Department of Financial Institutions and taken over by the FDIC.

Logitech made cuts at its Vancouver branch, Intel announced its computer chip factoring in Hillsboro will close, OHSU is cutting 1,000 to 1,500 workers and Microsoft dropped the bomb that due to a massive sales decline, it will cut 5,000 jobs – 1,400 were cut immediately, 872 of which were in Washington.

This is not news any of us likes hearing, but I would argue that it’s news we all need to hear. The business climate has changed and it affects us all. It is common and inevitable in these times of seemingly endless bad news that readers form a rally cry for positive stories. We report good news, but we can’t ignore the bad, even though the press is often blamed for magnifying shaky situations.

At the VBJ, we talk a lot about our role: Are we a voice for or a voice of the business community? The VBJ tends to be pro-business. We see the positive impact business can have on the local economy and community at large.

But is it our job to be an advocate?

-Megan Patrick-Vaughn can be reached at mpatrick@vbjusa.com