Monetizing the news*

Last year, the mayor of Portland hired the news editor of the weekly Portland Mercury as a policy adviser. The fact that the news editor had no relevant experience and just happened to be reporting on an affair the mayor had had with an 18-year-old man... probably just coincidence.

From the Oregonian via Romenesko:

In early 2008, Amy Ruiz was a reporter at the Portland Mercury news weekly when she confronted Sam Adams about his relationship with an 18-year-old man three years earlier.

By the end of the year, Ruiz had joined Adams' staff as a planning and sustainability policy adviser.

The two events have opened Adams and his staff to questions about whether Adams hired Ruiz -- who had no formal experience in planning, policy or as an analyst -- to stop her from digging deeper into the story

-snip-

Although Portland is packed with urban planners looking for a gig, Miller said he wasn't necessarily searching for a technocrat. He wanted someone who could translate the benefits of the city's planning work to the masses.

*Update: Adams has shown an affinity for the press - he's apparently dating Oregonian reporter, and former Los Angeles Daily Journal staffer, Peter Zuckerman.