Independent. Local. Ours.
Columbia County Tribune is an independent local news site for Columbia County, Oregon.
Our Mission
We believe independent news should be accountable to the community it serves, not to corporate owners or outside interests. The Tribune is locally owned so that it can give a voice to our community. This paper is made up of our stories and history.
We will focus on county and city government meetings, budgets, and elections; every community in the county, including the smaller ones; and local history and community stories. Our news is free to read. You will find a town page for each community and places to send tips, letters, and corrections.
We will not put the news behind a paywall, make up quotes, sources, or facts, or hide our mistakes.
What We Cover
The Tribune covers Columbia County first. We report on regional, state, and national stories only when they affect the county.
Local news matters because the decisions that shape daily life are made close to home. County commissioners, city councils, school boards, and local agencies decide how public money is spent, how services are run, and what is built in our towns. When no one is there to report on those decisions, residents hear about them late or not at all.
Local news also keeps a community’s record. Who served, what was decided, how a town changed, and the people who lived there are part of our shared history, and that history is easy to lose when no one writes it down.
We believe a county is stronger when its residents can see how their public institutions work and can read about their neighbors and their towns. That is why the Tribune reports on every community in the county, including the smaller ones, and not only the largest.
Masthead and Ownership
Sam Mello, Founder, Editor, and Publisher
Sam lives in Deer Island, Oregon and is proud to call Columbia County home.
Columbia County Tribune is published by Columbia County Tribune LLC, an Oregon limited liability company formed in 2026. Samuel (Sam) Mello is its sole owner.
The Tribune is currently funded entirely by Columbia County Tribune LLC. As we add advertising and reader contributions, we will list them here.