| King County Journal Newspapers has been sold to Black Press Ltd., a Canadian newspaper chain based in Vancouver, British Colombia. Black Press also owns Sound Publishing on Bainbridge Island, which publishes all the weekly newspapers in Kitsap County as well as on Vashon Island.
King County Journal Newspapers, which has offices in Bellevue and a printing facility in Kent, is part of Horvitz Newspapers Inc. Horvitz also owns the Peninsula Daily News in Port Angeles and The Daily Times in Maryville, Tenn., which were not included in the sale.
Peter Horvitz, whose family has owned the Journal since 1994, announced the sale to employees at its Kent operation the day before Thanksgiving. Horvitz put the King County Journal up for sale in June, after its eighth straight money-losing year.
Black Press Ltd. is based in Victoria, British Columbia, and owns more than 100 community newspapers in western Canada and the U.S, as well as the Daily Honolulu Star-Bulletin and the Akron, Ohio Beacon-Journal. Its Sound Publishing subsidiary owns 18 newspapers in Kitsap, and King counties as well as in the San Juan Islands, including the local Bainbridge Review, Port Orchard Independent, North Kitsap Herald, CK Reporter and Bremerton Patriot.
The King County Journal Newspapers is made up of 11 newspapers: its flagship King County Journal, Mercer Island Reporter, Snoqualmie Valley Record, Snoqualmie Valley Living, Auburn Reporter, Bellevue Reporter, Bothell/Kenmore Reporter, Covington/Maple Valley Reporter, Kent Reporter, Redmond Reporter and Renton Reporter. |
