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After 28 years, The Oregonian has laid off veteran sportswriter Mike Tokito. Since 1988, Tokito has covered just about every sport possible for The Oregonian, including NBA basketball. He was a significant part of The Oregonian’s Trail Blazers coverage as recently as 2015—uncovering Kim Hughes’ early statement that the Blazers “lost LaMarcus Aldridge” days before Aldridge left—and had been The Oregonian’s authority on college and high school sports until this morning.
Friends -- I'm sad to announce that after 28 years of working at The Oregonian, I've been laid off.
— Mike Tokito (@mtokito) May 22, 2017
A sincere thanks to all who’ve read and supported my work, and to those you allowed me to share your stories. It’s been a great ride.
— Mike Tokito (@mtokito) May 22, 2017
A great number of Portland media folks expressed their sympathies and well wishes, including Jason Quick of CSN NW, former Trail Blazers color commentator Mike Rice, and Oregonian Blazers beat writer Joe Freeman.
Tokito is a consummate professional and will surely land on his feet. Until that time comes, we too wish him all the best and would like to thank him for his years of insightful sports coverage. The loss of Tokito and his excellent writing reminds us that traditional sports journalism as a whole is a mercurial, struggling industry.