The King County Journal has a new owner. But no one is saying yet what Black Press of Victoria, B.C., publisher of the Akron Beacon Journal, plans to do with the struggling suburban daily.
Peter Horvitz, whose family has owned the Journal since 1994, announced the sale to employees in a hastily arranged meeting at the company's Kent headquarters late Wednesday afternoon.
But he wouldn't disclose the price or say what the Canadian chain has in mind for the paper, which has been losing money and circulation for years.
"I'm not going to speak for Mr. [Black Press President David] Black," Horvitz said in a telephone interview. "It's for him and his people to tell our employees and the community what their plans are."
Black did not return calls and e-mails requesting comment. Horvitz said Black Press officials would visit the Journal on Monday and reveal more.
"One rumor, which Horvitz said was inaccurate, suggested Black planned to transform the paper into a free-distribution tabloid and lay off the entire news staff.
But David Grant, a Journal reporter who heads the paper's unit of the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild, said Executive Editor Barbara Morgan was telling staff members Wednesday afternoon that their jobs were safe.
"We're hopeful that Black Press will continue to put out the King County Journal as a daily newspaper ... " Grant said. "But I don't think anyone's reassured at this point."
Another employee, who requested anonymity, said Black Press' record elsewhere makes many Journal workers apprehensive.
Horvitz said the sale is scheduled to close next Thursday.
Click on the headline to read the full story in the Seattle Times.
Friday, November 24, 2006
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