About Us

Scale model maker Mark Alvarado made this miniature of our historic building (circa 2011, notice the window changes) on the corner of Georgia and Bond.

Scale model maker Mark Alvarado made this miniature of our historic building (circa 2011, notice the window changes) on the corner of Georgia and Bond.

The Source Weekly

Bend’s Independent Voice Since 1997

The Source Weekly is a weekly newspaper based in Bend, Ore., covering news, art, music, events, outdoors and other issues of interest to readers in Central Oregon.

Our mission: to go deeper into the stories Central Oregon is talking about, and to offer thoughtful, well-researched, sometimes humorous and always entertaining insight into issues—with a lens of equity and social justice, and the goal of balanced journalism, backed by diligent fact checking.

Based in downtown Bend, the Source was founded in 1997 by Aaron and Angela Switzer, who continue to independently own and operate this vibrant local paper. Several years after founding the Source Weekly, the Switzers also founded Lay It Out Events, offering a host of events including the Bite of Bend, WinterFest and SummerFest. 2016 marked the launch of Bend Nest: A Parenting Magazine, a Source Weekly sister publication.

In addition to covering local news, the Source Weekly maintains the most comprehensive events calendar in the region, and produces a host of guides and special issues—including Scout, our annual visitor’s guide; an annual Best of Central Oregon issue; a biannual Happy Hour Guide; an annual Restaurant Guide; a Breakfast & Lunch Guide and The Leaflet, our biannual guide to the cannabis scene in Central Oregon.

Have an event to share? It’s free to submit and share your event on our Calendar page.

Looking to connect with us? Visit our Facebook, Instagram or Twitter feeds to stay up-to-date on what’s happening in Central Oregon, or visit our Contact Us page to email us directly.

Awards We've Won

2011

3rd place – Social Issues Reporting, awarded to Eric Flowers (Society of Professional Journalists Northwest Excellence in Journalism)

2012

1st Place – Writing, awarded to Eric Flowers (Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association)

2018

1st place – Best Editorial/Column, awarded to Nicole Vulcan/Aaron Switzer (Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association)

1st place – Best Feature Writing, awarded to Nicole Vulcan (Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association)

2nd place – Target Audience Publication General Excellence (Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association)

2019

1st place - Best Editorial/Column, awarded to Nicole Vulcan/Aaron Switzer (Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association)

1st place – Target Audience Publication General Excellence (Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association)

1st place – Design, awarded to Shannon Corey, Wyatt Gaines, Esther Gray (Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association)

2nd place – Best Feature Writing, awarded to Nicole Vulcan (Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association)

3rd place – Best Feature Writing, awarded to Chris Miller (Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association)

Source Weekly Editorial Policies:

Fact Checking Policy

Our editorial team makes every effort to verify the information provided to us is accurate and truthful before we publish it. Reporters are responsible for checking names, dates, titles, days and dates, addresses and URLs and other factual information in their stories, and for verifying the information included in quotes is accurate and truthful. An editor and copy editor subsequently edit and fact-check information provided in stories before they go to press or are published online. If you encounter information you deem incorrect on our site or in our print publication, please email editor@bendsource.com and provide any supporting documentation so that we can review it and assess whether a correction is in order. (see Corrections policy below)

Ethics Policy

Our ethics policy is simple: seek the truth. Verify information before it’s published. Aim to present a responsible and fair glimpse of the issue at hand. Be accurate, and correct inaccuracies as soon as possible.

Our editorial team does not engage in “pay to play” journalism, in which sources pay or otherwise influence us to write a positive story on them, and our news and advertising departments engage in separate duties so as not to allow undue influence from advertisers over our editorial coverage. When we are in doubt about a particular ethics-related question in our journalism, we rely on the trusted guidance from the Society of Professional Journalists and The Associate Press’ ethics policies to help us make sound decisions.

Corrections policy

When we make a mistake in our stories, we will update or otherwise correct the story in its online form as soon as possible and will add a note to the story that indicates what changes we made. We will also publish a printed correction in our print edition, if the error appeared in print, within three weeks of the initial error.

Comment policy

We believe in people’s First Amendment rights to free speech, even if we don’t agree with their arguments, and will not remove comments simply because they differ with the personal or political perspectives of our staff. We do reserve the right to remove comments or block users from our website and social media accounts should they use libelous or slanderous language— in other words, when they write things that are untrue or intended to defame someone. We also reserve the right to remove or block users who post spam on our site(s), and to filter comments for hate speech and threats.

Thanks for reading!