The Portland Alliance newspaper, 25th Anniversary dinner-auction-celebration December 9, 2006

Cost: Tickets $20; includes dinner. Adult beverages sold separately. Advance tickets may be purchased by calling 503-239-4991 or logging on to www.theportlandalliance.org.

The Portland Alliance is celebrating 25 years of publishing with an evening of food, music, reminiscences and a sharp jab at the local mainstream press. A silent auction will be offering a number of fascinating items, including a hand-made quilted wall-hanging and other crafts and art. Attendees will enjoy a spaghetti dinner, music by General Strike and a special musical roast of the mainstream press by Melinda Pittman (founder of the Fallen Angel Choir and BroadArts Productions) and her partner Joe Rastetter. Past Alliance editors will be on hand to share stories about the newspaper.

“The Portland Alliance is a rare creature in the media world,” states editor Dave Mazza. “At a time when the mainstream press – even some weeklies that call themselves ‘alternative’ – is more and more beholden to corporate advertisers, the Alliance has stayed true to the idea of a press unfettered by corporate influence. We rely on the support of the local community – individuals and local businesses – to keep us going.”

In 1981, a group of local activists concerned over the impacts of the Reagan administration on the press, came together to form their own publication that report on local, regional, national and international stories from a progressive perspective. From that effort The Portland Alliance was born.

Since its creation, the Alliance has sought out stories not usually covered by the Oregonian and other local newspapers, given voice to groups and communities who often do not receive the coverage they warrant and provide analysis that goes beyond the usual nostrums offered by mainstream talking heads.

Despite working on a budget that wouldn’t cover the coffee budget at the Oregonian or Willamette, the Alliance has over the years proved itself a leader in breaking important stories. In 2001, for example, the paper scooped the local press by revealing the anti-gay sentiments that then-police Chief Mark Kroeker espoused to Christian police groups – “sermons” subsequently sold on the Internet. While the mainstream press proved willing – until recently – to go along with the Bush administration’s fanciful version of how the “war on terror” was going in Afghanistan, the Alliance published reports by Zahir Wahab, a Lewis and Clark College professor making routine visits to his native land to help rebuild its educational system. The reports he made on conditions in Kabul and in the countryside differed sharply from the administration and showed a campaign that was fast losing ground to local resistance.

Proceeds from the event will go to the operating fund of The Portland Alliance to help ensure another 25 years of telling the truth those in power don’t want aired.

Official Website: http://www.theportlandalliance.org