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6 days ago | 
columbian.com | Craig Brown
One of President Donald Trump’s main talking points has been increasing American manufacturing by increasing tariffs and reducing regulations. On Tuesday, he signed an executive order the White House contends will result in increased U.S. manufacturing of prescription drugs. “As we invest in the future, we will permanently bring our medical supply chains back home,” Trump said. What might that mean for us? Clark County hasn’t been a hotbed of pharmaceutical manufacturing.
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2 weeks ago | 
columbian.com | Craig Brown
The following is presented as part of The Columbian’s Opinion content, which offers a point of view in order to provoke thought and debate of civic issues. Opinions represent the viewpoint of the author. Unsigned editorials represent the consensus opinion of The Columbian’s editorial board, which operates independently of the news department.
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3 weeks ago | 
columbian.com | Craig Brown
The following is presented as part of The Columbian’s Opinion content, which offers a point of view in order to provoke thought and debate of civic issues. Opinions represent the viewpoint of the author. Unsigned editorials represent the consensus opinion of The Columbian’s editorial board, which operates independently of the news department.
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1 month ago | 
columbian.com | Craig Brown
Twice-failed Southwest Washington congressional candidate Joe Kent appears set to join the Trump administration as director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Based in McLean, Va., it’s a 2,800-mile drive from Clark County. So does that mean Kent is done with Clark County? Apparently not. Multiple real estate listing sites, such as Zillow, are showing his home east of Fargher Lake is for rent, but not for sale.
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1 month ago | 
columbian.com | Craig Brown
The following is presented as part of The Columbian’s Opinion content, which offers a point of view in order to provoke thought and debate of civic issues. Opinions represent the viewpoint of the author. Unsigned editorials represent the consensus opinion of The Columbian’s editorial board, which operates independently of the news department.
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Feb 1, 2025 | 
columbian.com | Craig Brown
After almost seven years of writing this column, this is my last one. I’m retiring as editor of The Columbian and Columbian.com as of Monday. Will Campbell, whose family has owned The Columbian for four generations spanning more than a century, will take over running the newsroom. I couldn’t be more delighted for him. It’s the final step in a transition that has been in the works since I was hired for this job.
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Jan 25, 2025 | 
columbian.com | Craig Brown
With the 2025 legislative session underway, already almost 1,000 bills have been filed, and if the trend holds, another 1,000 will be filed before the 105-day session ends. One measure that leaders of news organizations will be watching carefully is Senate Bill 5400. Co-sponsored by Sen. Adrian Cortes, D-Battle Ground, it would support local journalism by creating a tax surcharge to be paid by large international technology companies.
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Jan 18, 2025 | 
columbian.com | Craig Brown
It’s well documented that Donald Trump is no friend to the news media, but could his second term boost U.S. journalism? It very well might, according to a new report, “Journalism and Technology Trends and Predictions 2025,” published this month by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. It’s an international report, focused mostly on large news outlets, but I found some interesting things that seem applicable to local journalism, too. Take Trump, for example.
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Jan 11, 2025 | 
columbian.com | Craig Brown
Anytime we move the furniture it gets me nostalgic for my early days at The Columbian back in the late 1980s. I had just turned 27, was new to town, newly married and looking for a full-time newspaper job. Unfortunately, The Columbian was doing layoffs. But they offered me work as a stringer. Most of my assignments were routine coverage of small-town public meetings, like the Ridgefield City Council or the La Center school board. As I recall my standard payment was $35 per story.
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Dec 7, 2024 | 
columbian.com | Craig Brown
Craig Brown is The Columbian’s editor. Contact him at 360-735-4514 or [email protected]. Photo I was sitting in a meeting this week and I started thinking about how we use meetings to shape stories and put together our print and digital products. We’ve changed these meetings quite a bit this year as we moved to more of a digital-first strategy.
