You're certainly right about that. And it's the metro area newspapers that set the media agenda for news on radio, TV, etc.
The more I think about it, the more I think conservatives should band together and simply buy the Oregonian, Chronicle, L.A. Times, etc. Don't start competing newspapers, buy the existing left-wing rags, and fire the editorial boards. I bet we could do that, and it would cost about as much as all the money we dump into a handful of races over a couple of elections.
And it would turn the political climate in the affected cities on its head.