Rough row hoed in Bremerton

OK. It was a stupid idea. I have a newspaper colleague from long years ago who is retired in Bremerton, WA. Gosh, I thought, I will ask him what he can tell me about the Bremerton Patriot which is a very small Black Ltd. paper published weekly on Saturdays. Of course, the situation in Bremerton will not provide the least clue about how Black might operate in Akron.

The Patriot competes with the daily Bremerton (Kitsap County) Sun The friend does not subscribe but occasionally sees a copy.

“They have Reuters and little or no local news or advertising.” he writes. “I have no opinion of it although I can say from experience that the row hoed by a new newspaper challenging an established one is a very hard row indeed. And it really doesn’t matter how bad the existing paper is.”

My friend worked on upstarts in two Ohio communities that in his words “eventually succumbed to the apathy of the public.”

“We read the AP story with a lot of interest.” my friend continues. “I would have thought the Beacon Journal would be worth more than $165 million, but I guess newspapers aren’t such good buys these days. I wondered what the effect (this word was misused in a Bremerton Sun sports page headline this morning) this would have on your pension.”

Blogger Note: I found four local stories on the soapbox derby. Maybe I will ask Jocelynn Wright about all this when she comes to Akron July 22 for the big race.

Bremerton, home of the Navy's famous retired fleet, entertains visitors with modern art galleries, seafood restaurants, and harbor cruises. This port city was recently named one of the "most livable cities in the USA."

The Patriot was established in 1999. The Bremerton Sun, a Scripps newspaper first published in 1935, was so named to compete with the "Seattle Star" directly across Puget Sound. Four years later, the Sun's circulation surpassed that of its competitor. In 1940, John P. Scripps Newspaper Group obtained control of the newspaper. When it merged with The E.W. Scripps Company in 1986, the paper was renamed The Sun. In 2005, the newspaper was renamed the Kitsap Sun.

OK, so now how about Honolulu?

Is anyone acquainted with anyone working for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin to shed light on how reporters fare at that Black Papers Ltd. daily?

The Newspaper Guild was established in Honolulu in 1937. When founder Roy Cummings died on Nov 25, 2001 the larger Honolulu newspaper, the Advertiser, missepelled his name. Top minimum at the Black-owned Bulletin is $1,132. The Advertiser is $1,150, the Beacon Journal $1,046 and San Jose $1,180. Keep living costs in mind when comparing these salaries..