The world of journalism
The Reporter focuses both on in-depth pieces that typically are not covered by the daily press and on coverage of cultural events throughout the city, according to the newspaper's website. The Reporter is delivered to approximately 20,000 homes and has a circulation of approximately 50,000 readers.
Willamette Week has won more journalism awards in Oregon than any other non-daily periodical. The paper's mission is to maintain its independence while publishing articles that manifest daring writing and reporting. Since Meeker took over the City of Roses Newspaper Company, the circulation of Willamette Week has expanded from around 15,000 to 90,000, and now reaches approximately 400,000 readers.
In addition to his role as publisher and owner of City of Roses, Meeker is an accomplished journalist. After his graduation in 1970, Meeker taught a full spectrum of subjects in a one-room school house in North Carolina for a year before enrolling in law school. He was offered a job by the Justice Department but chose to pursue his career in journalism instead.
In 1974 he landed a job as a reporter at Willamette Week; nine years later, he bought the paper.
He wrote a piece entitled "When Going Out of Business is Good for Business," which received third place in media reporting at the 1996 Alternative Newsweekly awards. In 1983 he published "Newspaperman," a biography of well-known publisher S.I. Newhouse.
A successful family
Meeker, who grew up in Washington, D.C., still remembers his first visit to Amherst. "In the fall of our senior year in high school, a friend and I got in the car and drove to Princeton, Yale and Amherst. When we got back I said, 'I think I'll apply to Amherst.' My friend said, 'I think I'll apply to Princeton.' We both got in and that was it."
High achievers have always been part of Meeker's life. His father was a legal advisor to the State Department and later became President Nixon's ambassador to Romania. Meeker's wife, Ellen, is a judge and the secretary of the American Bar Association.
Meeker lives in Portland, Ore. with his wife and two children, Will and Cate. "Cate is at Tufts and plays on the girls soccer team that knocked off Amherst recently," Meeker joked.
Reflections on Amherst
Meeker remembers being a little unsettled when he first arrived at the College. "You come to college physically formed, but mentally unformed, so at first it was kind of intimidating," he said. Meeker started as a Russian major, changed to American studies, and eventually decided on English. "I really had trouble deciding what I wanted to do," he said.
The tumultuous events of the 1960s influenced Meeker's college experience. "I didn't appreciate it at the time, but going to college at the time I did with what was going on around me and in the world was a real revelation."
The College's student body didn't much resemble today's, but its ideological foundations were solid. "Despite the lack of diversity at the College at the time, Amherst still had a good value system," Meeker said.
At the College, Meeker was a news editor of The Amherst Student and worked with Bob Nathan '70 and Bill Alford '70, and with Allan Webber '70, who was the editor-in-chief. To this day, Meeker is still friends with his co-workers at The Student.
Today, Meeker is impressed with what his peers have gone on to achieve. "It's a surprise to me to see what people have done and what they have accomplished," he said. "Some people you thought were destined for great things but others that didn't seem that way have gone on to do some very impressive things with their lives."
Meeker finds his occupation interesting and satisfying. "When you're your own boss and in journalism you really find something interesting every day," he said.
Reflecting on his Amherst experience, Meeker acknowledges the impact of the College on his life. "What I can say is that I give Amherst some credit, not all, but some credit for the way I live because I like what I do. I look forward to going into the office everyday, and doing something interesting and learning something new every day."