Convicted Medford Editor Avoids New Libel Trial

Convicted of libeling judge and jury, George Putnam of Medford Tribune wins appeal.
Crusading editor George Putnam found himself in jail shortly after taking over direction of the Medford Tribune in 1907.
Putnam had published an article criticizing a jury and the prosecuting attorney for their handling of an assault case accusing the president of the Rogue River Valley Railroad, W.S. Barnum, of attacking Medford Mayor J.F. Reddy with an axe. Putnam had witnessed the incident and sided with the mayor.
Later, Putnam was headed north by train for the Christmas holidays when he was pulled from his Pullman sleeper and thrown in jail. Tried and convicted of libeling the prosecutor and jury in the Barnum assault case, Putnam appealed all the way to the Oregon Supreme Court, which reversed his conviction and granted a new trial.
Three years after his arrest, the case was dropped in 1910 for lack of prosecution.
Newspaper historian George D. Turnbull wrote, “This was a complete vindication of Putnam’s conduct as an editor. As long as he remained in Medford … he continued to criticize freely whenever he thought public interest demanded.”
Putnam left Medford in 1919 to become the longtime publisher of the Salem Capital Journal in Salem.
Source: Turnbull, George S. History of Oregon Newspapers. Portland, Ore.: Binfords & Mort, Publishers, 1939. 250-51. Print.