King County Journal's owner announces paper is closing

[flamingyouth]

The King County Journal's new owner today announced it will close the Kent-based daily.

The newspaper's last edition will be January 21, said Don Kendall, general manager of the Journal and nine affiliated non-daily papers.

Black Press of Victoria, B.C., purchased the 10 papers last month from Horvitz Newspapers, and announced it would decide the Journal's fate over the next few weeks. The daily had been losing money and circulation for years.

Kendall made the announcement to employees in the Kent newsroom early this afternoon.

"We couldn't come up with a business model that would work," he said in an interview. "I've been a publisher for 20 years. It's the most difficult thing I've ever had to do."

About 40 full-time employees, mostly in the newsroom, will be laid off, he added.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003499464_webkcjournal28.html

[pscot]

1. hard to believe anyone will miss it

It's always been a sorry excuse for a paper. Basically just a mouthpiece for the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce. Sorry to see people thrown out of work, but it'll give them chance to look for useful employment.

[MikeNearMcChord]

2. Funny that a paper that leaned right is going out of buisness

Kirby Wilbur can you explain this?

[Pierzin]

3. That's too bad, if only for more diverse coverage of news out there

I have never read it myself, but regret any mouthpiece of the press to close down and folks losing work, if only to keep the public aware and vibrant, if you know what I mean. Maybe a sign of the times that local newspapers and print media in general is losing out as a dinosaur to radio, TV, podcasts, web zines.

[geniph]

4. I'm sorry for the employees,

but not at all sorry to see that lame-ass right-wing birdcage liner go take its well-deserved dirt nap. What an awful paper - its only regular opinion columns were written by John Carlson and Michael Medved. Bleagh.