Editing Willamette Week (section)

==History==

===Early history===
''Willamette Week'' was founded in 1974 by Ronald A. Buel,<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 17, 1974 |title=Weekly Newspaper Planned |work=Oregon Journal |pages=2}}</ref> who served as its first publisher.<ref name=pbj-apr99>{{cite news|last=Bellotti|first=Mary|title=Alternative success story|newspaper=[[Portland Business Journal]]|date=April 25, 1999|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/1999/04/26/story7.html|access-date=August 28, 2012|archive-date=June 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610203740/http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/1999/04/26/story7.html|url-status=live}}</ref>  It was later owned by the Eugene [[The Register-Guard|''Register-Guard'']], which sold it in the fall of 1983 to Richard H. Meeker  and [[Mark Zusman]],<ref name=oreg-jan84>Nicholas, Jonathan (January 9, 1984). "Free, and fresh, weekly". ''[[The Oregonian]]'', p. B1.</ref> who took the positions of publisher and [[Editor-in-chief|editor]], respectively. Meeker had been one of the paper's first reporters, starting in 1974, and Zusman had joined the paper as a business writer in 1982.<ref name=pbj-apr99/> Meeker and Zusman formed City of Roses Newspaper Company to publish ''WW'' and a sister publication, ''Fresh Weekly'', a free guide to local arts and entertainment. ''WW'' had a [[Newspaper circulation|paid circulation]] at that time, with about 12,000 [[subscriber]]s.<ref name=oreg-jan84/>

===Post-merger===
A major change was made in January 1984, when ''Fresh Weekly'' was merged into ''WW'', the paper's [[print run]] was increased to 50,000 and paid circulation was discontinued, with ''WW'' thereafter being distributed free.<ref name="oreg-jan84" /> WW increased circulation to 90,000 copies by 2007.<ref name="E&P" /> Circulation has declined to 50,000 by March 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wweek.com/news/2020/03/14/portland-mercury-halts-print-editions-amid-coronavirus-shutdowns/|title=Portland Mercury Halts Print Editions Amid Coronavirus Shutdowns|last=Mesh|first=Aaron|date=March 14, 2020|website=Willamette Week|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-28|archive-date=2020-03-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200317132923/https://www.wweek.com/news/2020/03/14/portland-mercury-halts-print-editions-amid-coronavirus-shutdowns/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In June 2015, Richard Meeker stepped down as ''Willamette Week''{{'}}s publisher, after more than 31 years in the position.<ref name="new publisher">{{cite news|title=WW Has A New Publisher|url=http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-33327-ww_has_a_new_publisher.html|access-date=March 3, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150615005547/http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-33327-ww_has_a_new_publisher.html|archive-date=June 15, 2015|work=Willamette Week|date=June 11, 2015}}</ref><ref name=meeker-2015jun17>{{cite news|last1=Meeker|first1=Richard H.|title=To Our Readers [editorial]|url=http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-24911-to_our_readers.html|access-date=July 6, 2015|work=Willamette Week|date=June 17, 2015|page=5|archive-date=June 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150620102112/http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-24911-to_our_readers.html|url-status=live}}</ref>  Editor Mark Zusman succeeded him as publisher, while also retaining the editorship.<ref name=meeker-2015jun17/><ref name=pbj-2015jun12>{{cite news|last1=Walker|first1=Mason|title=Willamette Week publisher steps down|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/blog/2015/06/willamette-week-publisher-steps-down.html|access-date=July 6, 2015|work=Portland Business Journal|date=June 12, 2015|archive-date=July 7, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707201746/http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/blog/2015/06/willamette-week-publisher-steps-down.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Meeker planned to continue working for the City of Roses Newspaper Company, WW's owner.<ref name="new publisher"/><ref name=pbj-2015jun12/>