From flagship to flagship

Here’s how the Honolulu Star Bulletin sees the Beacon Journal sale:

Black Press Ltd., the owner of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, announced yesterday that it will buy the Akron Beacon Journal, a former Knight-Ridder newspaper, from the McClatchy Co. for $165 million.

The Beacon Journal, which is the only daily newspaper in Akron, Ohio, and is distributed throughout northeast Ohio, will become Black Press's largest holding. The Star-Bulletin was formerly Black's largest newspaper and is now second-largest.

The Akron paper, which has a weekday circulation of 135,000 and a Sunday circulation of 175,000, employs about 600 people. By comparison, the Honolulu Advertiser, owned by Gannett Co. Inc., has a circulation of 140,327 daily and 158,699 Sunday. The Star-Bulletin has a circulation of 65,000.

The Beacon Journal will become the flagship paper in Black's chain, which owns and operates 115 newspapers in western Canada, Washington state and Hawaii.

The acquisition, which is expected to close this summer, is a good fit for Black Press, said David Black, chief executive officer of Black Press, a company that is 80 percent owned by the David Black family and 20 percent owned by the Torstar Corp.

"Under the direction of the Knight family, the Akron Beacon Journal has been a good community newspaper for a long time. We believe in the same focus on local journalism of high quality," Black said.

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