During the 2020 Portland Business Alliance annual meeting, held virtually on June 9, Tonkon Torp partner Parna Mehrbani moderated a conversation with keynote speaker John Hassell, the Sr. VP and Editorial Director of Advance Local, one of the largest local media companies in the United States whose banners include the Oregonian and OregonLive.
John’s address focused on the state of media and the importance of local media to tell the informative, hard, and inspiring stories about the COVID-19 pandemic and the national protest movement in support of racial equity and justice. He also talked about the challenge of introducing technology innovations to increase news delivery and subscriber engagement during a severe contraction of advertising revenue. After his talk, Parna fielded questions with John about the safety and first amendment rights of media teams during this turbulent time, and how Advance Local holds members of their media team accountable when talking about racial equity.
Parna is Co-Chair of Tonkon Torp's Information Privacy & Security Practice Group, and a partner in its Intellectual Property Practice Group. She is the Chair-Elect of the Partners in Diversity Leadership Council, a program of the Portland Business Alliance Charitable Institute.
