Sound Publishing is buying the Peninsula Daily News, Sequim This Week, the Sequim Gazette and the Forks Forum.
Sound Publishing publishes the Kent Reporter, Covington Reporter, Tukwila Reporter and numerous other weeklies. Souund is based in Poulsbo and is a division of Black Press, Ltd. of Victoria, British Columbia.
Sequim-based Olympic View Publishing Company announced Tuesday the sale of the company to Sound. Olympic View has been owned and operated by local resident Brown M. Maloney for over 23 years.
The company produces two Clallam County newspapers, the Sequim Gazette and the Forks Forum. In addition, they also produce two real estate magazines, Olympic Peninsula Homes-Land Magazines, based on the North Olympic Peninsula and Islander Homes-Land Magazine with distribution in Island and San Juan Counties.
Sound Publishing is the largest community newspaper group in Washington State with 46 publications and 732,700 circulation.
“We are thrilled with the purchase of the Sequim Gazette,” said Black Press CEO David Black. “We have been publishing community newspapers for 22 years in Washington State and see this as an opportunity to expand our operations to the North Olympic Peninsula which is a good geographic fit with our other newspaper and website titles The Gazette is one of the best newspapers in the state in terms of quality. We are proud to be the new stewards of the business.”
Said Maloney, “It is with mixed emotions that I reflect upon selling my company, but there is a sense of pride in what my staff has achieved over the past two decades. I am pleased to see Olympic View Publishing pass into the hands of Sound Publishing who are as passionate about newspapers and as committed to community journalism as I have been since 1988.”
The new owners have announced that publisher Sue Ellen Riesau will remain in her role overseeing the operations of the company.
“I’ve been with Brown for almost his entire 23 years here, and of course, I am sad to see the end of an era,” said Riesau. “At the same time however, I have known and worked with Sound Publishing for almost as long. They are a solid newspaper company with a great track record and passion for community newspapers. I look forward to the future.”
Maloney also owns ABC affiliate KONP, an AM/FM radio station in Port Angeles. KONP Radio is a separate company and is not part of this transaction. Maloney will continue to own and operate the station with Todd Ortloff, who is a minority partner in the business.
Meanwhile, Sound reached an agreement Monday to buy the Port Angeles-based Peninsula Daily News, Sequim This Week and its related websites from Horvitz Newspapers, LLC.
Monday’s announcement was made personally to Peninsula Daily News employees by Peter Horvitz, president of Horvitz Newspapers, LLC, and Mark Warner of Black Press, Ltd.
Sound’s publications are found in Kitsap, Skagit, Snohomish and Pierce counties, San Juan Islands, Whidbey Island, Vashon Island, communities in east and south King County, and Portland, Ore.
Sound’s corporate office is based in Poulsbo and it has a printing facility in Everett.
Privately held Black Press, Ltd. owns about 150 publications, including three daily newspapers, the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal, the (Honolulu) Star Advertiser and the Advocate (Red Deer, Alberta). The other publications are in suburban or rural markets throughout the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Black said: “We have purchased other titles from Horvitz Newspapers in the past and look forward to adding the Peninsula Daily News and its related titles to our Sound group. As publishers of other titles in the area, this acquisition is a natural extension to our marketplace footprint. We are pleased to be doing business in Clallam and Jefferson counties.”
The family owned Horvitz Newspapers, based in Bellevue, purchased the Peninsula Daily News from Persis Corporation in 1994.
“Our family has enjoyed owning the Peninsula Daily News for 17 years, and we’re very proud of its employees and their commitment to serving the news and information needs of the Clallam and Jefferson County communities and the quality journalism they provide,” Horvitz said. “We’re delighted that Black Press has chosen to add the Peninsula Daily News and Sequim This Week to its family of Pacific Northwest publications.”
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