No. of Recommendations: 2
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October 26, 2025
Letter from the Editor
The Oregonian
Laura Gunderson
Editor and Vice President of Content
Dear reader,
One of the best parts about being a reporter is when we go places the general public doesn’t typically get to experience.
Such opportunities can help us hold powerful people and institutions accountable or allow us to share unique information or perspectives with readers.
That was the case for health reporter Kristine de Leon, who aimed to tell the stories of residents at Gray’s Landing, the affordable housing complex with a front row seat to the protests at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in South Portland.
Since summer, several of our reporters have published stories about the issues Gray’s Landing residents have faced: Tear gas floating into their balconies and open windows, flash bang grenades booming into the wee hours, intense spotlights pointed at the crowds but creating ambient light that’s hard to block. Helicopters, drones, megaphones and unrelenting tension.
But as far as we knew, no reporters had attempted to experience it for themselves.
It was an important story because it could help illustrate the nuanced scene in South Portland. While there are protesters who are crocheting and wearing inflatable costumes, there are also small groups of rude folks from both sides who scream obscenities nonstop and sometimes appear to be itching for a fight. Still, protesters’ turnout and destruction are far less than in 2020, and the city is by no means “war-ravaged” or on on fire, as President Donald Trump claims.
But it’s a nerve-wracking situation for people who live and work there.
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It's complicated. For us to do our job well, we need people to be on the record — especially now when it’s become routine to question journalists’ objectivity and truth-telling.
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De Leon and photographer Abigail Landwehr arrived at Gray’s Landing at 4 p.m. and left around 1:30 a.m., when the crowds had quieted down.
She took a week to carefully craft her story. She exchanged several drafts with Haberman and said she worried throughout about selecting the best anecdotes and accurately capturing the residents’ intense feelings.
You can judge for yourself as her story on Gray’s Landing’s residents published today. After months of hearing protesters outside their apartments, they finally have the megaphone.
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