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| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Newspapers |
| Founded | 1975; 50 years ago (1975) |
| Headquarters | 15288 54A Avenue,Surrey, British Columbia, Canada[1] |
Area served | Canada:Alberta,British Columbia,Northwest Territories, andYukon United States:Alaska,Hawaii, andWashington |
Key people | David Holmes Black (Chair) |
| Owners |
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| Subsidiaries | Northern News Services Ltd. Oahu Publications Inc. Sound Publishing Inc |
| Website | www |
Black Press Group Ltd. (BPG) is a Canadian commercial printer and newspaperpublisher founded in 1975 byDavid Holmes Black,[2] who has no relation to Canadian-born media mogulConrad Black. Based inSurrey, British Columbia, it was previously owned by the publisher ofToronto Star (Torstar, 19.35%) and Black (80.65%).[3]
In March 2024, it was announced that Carpenter Media Group had completed its acquisition of the firm, in a deal that involved Canso Investment Counsel, Ltd.[4]
Also known asBlack Press Media, the company publishes in theUnited States through two subsidiaries, Oahu Publications inHawaii and Sound Publishing inAlaska andWashington. It also ownsNorthern News Services based inYellowknife,Northwest Territories.
After acquiring three newspapers on theKitsap Peninsula,[5] it formed Sound Publishing in 1987 and has since operated all of its titles inWashington andAlaska. In turn, after purchasingHonolulu Star-Bulletin,[6] the publisher passed the responsibility for maintaining its titles inHawaii to Oahu Publications, a subsidiary formed in 2001 by BPG.
As of 2022,[update]News Media Canada reported Black Press publishes 106 editions across Canada with a combined circulation of 1,295,243. The number of titles include 70 inBritish Columbia, 11 inAlberta, two inNorthwest Territories and one inYukon.[7][8]
In 1969, Alan Black and Clive Stangoe acquired theWilliams Lake Tribune ofWilliams Lake, BC.[9] The weekly newspaper had previously been owned by Northwest Publications, where Alan Black worked as a manager. After the company dissolved, he acquired a majority stake in the company's smallest title alongside Stangoe,[10] who worked as the paper's publisher.[9] The two owned the paper under the name Cariboo Press Ltd.
In 1975, Alan Black and Stangoe sold theWilliams Lake Tribune to Alan Black's son David Black[11] for $60,000.[12] Black operated theTribune exclusively for four years until purchasing the husband-and-wife ownedAshcroft-Cache Creek Journal in nearbyAshcroft in 1979. Black continued to purchase other newspapers over time and soon formed newspaper clusters around Victoria and Vancouver.[13]
There was never a big plan to get big. It's just that another opportunity would come over the hill. Usually an independent would phone, wanting to retire or sell out, asking if we were interested in buying them.[13]
— David Black
In June 1980, Black acquired theLakes District News Houston Today. At some point prior he had also acquired theSmithers Interior News.[14]
In 1984, Black purchased a majority stake in three newspapers and two web printing plants onVancouver Island. The sale includedGoldstream Gazette,Ladysmith-Chemainus Chronicle andParksville-Qualicum News-Advertiser. The papers were merged into a new company which would also manageSidney Review, which had been acquired earlier. The sale brought the total number of newspapers owned by Black up to 12.[15]
In 1987, Black acquired the Salmon Arm Observer group on newspapers, which included theChase-Shuswap Weekly,Eagle Valley News andSalmon Arm Observer.[16]
In 1992, Black acquired the100 Mile House Free Press.[17]
In 1997, Black acquired 33 publications in western Canada from Trinity International Holdings PLC of Britain for $58 million.[18] The sale included theRed Deer Advocate.[19] By this time Black Press Ltd. had been established as Cariboo Press's parent company.
On September 19, 2002,Torstar Corporation announced that it was investing $20 million to acquire a 19.35% share in Black Press. At that time Black Press published 88 newspapers and had 11 printing plants. Annual revenues at the time were $240 million.[20]
In 2006, Black Press acquiredUsedEverywhere.com, a Canadian online classified website.[21] The website re-branded toUsed.ca in 2015.[22]
On June 27, 2007, Black Press announced a $405 million takeover offer forOsprey Media, putting it in competition withQuebecor Media for Osprey's assets. Quebecor put in a higher bid and won ownership of Osprey. As of 2008[update] it owned about 150 newspapers.[23]
In July 2010, Black Press acquired theRed Deer Express from Great West Newspapers, LP.[24] The company acquired two other Central Alberta publications, theSylvan Lake News andEckville Echo, in June 2011. The two weekly newspapers were owned by Barry and Darlene Hibbert.[25]
In July 2011, Black Press purchased of theCranbrook Daily Townsman and theKimberley Daily Bulletin by Don Kendall. At the time the two dallies published Monday to Friday, had a combined circulation of 5,000.[26]
In 2013, Black Press andGlacier Media Inc. exchanged four community newspapers in British Columbia. That led to the closure ofAbbotsford Times. In 2014, Black Press negotiated deals with Glacier Media Inc. to take effect in March 2015 that would exchange a dozen British Columbia newspapers that consolidated ownership of competing community papers onVancouver Island and theLower Mainland. Black Press obtainedHarbor City Star,Nanaimo Daily News,Cowichan Citizen,Parksville Oceanside Star,Tofino/Ucluelet Westerly News,Comox Valley Echo,Campbell River Courier,Surrey Now andLangley Advance.[27]
In August 2014, Black Press acquiredYukon News from owner Stephen Robertson.[28]
In March 2021, Black Press purchasedNorthern News Services Limited ofYellowknife,Northwest Territories, which publishes five newspapers in the Northwest Territories and two inNunavut.[29]
In April 2023, Black Press entered a partnership withVillage Media to license its custom content management system called Villager. The migration of Black Press sites will be completed in 2024.[30]
On January 15, 2024, Black Press enteredCCAA bankruptcy protection and announced a sales agreement. Founder David Black resigned as president shortly after the announcements.[31][32] On January 16, Black Press filed forChapter 15 bankruptcy in the United States.[33] At the time of the bankruptcy, Black Press has 144 publications, including 35 in Washington under its Sound Publishing subsidiary.[34]
In 1987, David Black sold a 21% equity stake in his company toShaw Communications to fund the purchase of about 15 newspapers. He bought stake back in 1990.[18]
Black Press purchased the Whidbey Press Newspaper Group in 1987 from newspaperman Wallie Valentine Funk. The sale included theWhidbey News-Times,South Whidbey Record and Naval Air Station Whidbey Crosswind. In 1988, Black Press purchased thePort Orchard Independent, followed soon by the acquisition of theBainbridge Island Review. In 1994, the subsidy was renamed to Sound Publishing. A year later the company acquired theVashonIsland Beachcomber. TheTacoma Daily Index was acquired next in 1997. A year later the company purchasesFriday Harbor Journal and launches theFederal Way Mirror in response to Seattle Times Co. closing theFederal Way News.[35]
In 2006, Black Press purchased nine newspapers from the family-owned Horvitz Newspapers Inc. The sale included the 41,000-circulation dailyKing County Journal; two weeklies, theMercer Island Reporter andSnoqualmie Valley Record; and seven bi-weeklies, theAuburn Reporter, Bellevue Reporter, Bothell/Kenmore Reporter, Covington/Maple Valley Reporter, Kent Reporter, Redmond Reporter and Renton Reporter.[36]
TheKing County Journal printed its last issue on Jan. 21, 2007. Forty full-time employees were laid off. Ten staffers were moved to weekly sister publications, and one was moved to marketing staff.[37]
In June 2008, Black Press purchasedThe Enumclaw Courier-Herald, along with a 4-year-old sibling publication that serves the Bonney Lake/Lake Tapps area. The paper's were previously owned by the estate of Ted Natt along with John Natt, David Natt and current publisher Bill Marcum.[38]
By July 2008, Black Press owned 15 community newspapers around the Seattle area, including 12 under the Reporter Newspapers brand, including the newly createdIssaquah/Sammamish Reporter and the Sumner/Lake Tapps Reporter. Overall, the mostly free weeklies in King County reached about 300,000 households at the time.[39]
In October 2008, Black Press purchased theMarysville Globe,Arlington Times, the regionalExpress Shopper and monthly business publications theWenatchee Business Journal and theBellingham Business Journal from Sun News Inc.[40] The 3,400-circulationWenatchee Business Journal was traded in August 2011 to CW Media, Inc. in exchange for theOkanogan Valley Gazette-Tribune.[41]The Globe,The Times, andBellingham Business Journal were are closed in April 2020 due to theCOVID-19 recession in the United States.[5][42]
In November 2011, Olympic View Publishing Company was purchased by Black Press from Brown M. Maloney. The sale includedSequim Gazette andForks Forum.[43] That same month Black Press acquiredPeninsula Daily News andSequim This Week from Horvitz Newspapers.[44]
In January 2013,Voice Media Group soldSeattle Weekly to Black Press.[45] The alt-weekly ceased its print edition and became an online-only publication in February 2019.[46]
In February 2013, Black purchasedThe Everett Herald, a daily newspaper nearSeattle. It had previously been owned for 35 years by theWashington Post Company.[47]
In October 2014, Black Press purchased six newspapers fromStephens Media, includingThe Daily World in Aberdeen, theMontesano Vidette, theNorth Coast News in Ocean Shores and theSouth Beach Bulletin in Westport.[48]
Black Press purchased theHonolulu Star-Bulletin in 2001.[13] The newspaper had previously been owned by Liberty Newspapers LP, of Florida. The company planned to close theStar-Bulletin two years prior, but a federal antitrust lawsuit was filed and a judge ordered the paper be sold instead. Black Press emerged as the new owner for $10,000.[18] Also in 2001, Black Press acquired RFD Publications, which owned the 280,000 circulationMidWeek.[49]
The Honolulu Advertiser[50] was acquired in 2010 and merged with theStar-Bulletin to create theHonolulu Star-Advertiser.[51][52][53]
In October 2014, Black Press purchased six newspapers fromStephens Media. The sale includedWest Hawaii Today andHawaii Tribune-Herald, as well as a 50% interest in Hawaii.com.[48]
In 2006, Black Press acquired theAkron Beacon Journal, the formerKnight Ridder flagship in Northeast Ohio, for $165 million.[54]
Black Press sold the paper in April 2018 toGateHouse Media and acquired theJuneau Empire,Peninsula Clarion andHomer News in Alaska from GateHouse.[55]
In 2011, David Black was one of several newspaper industry veterans who joined as investors in the San Francisco Newspaper Company to buy the formerHearst flagshipThe San Francisco Examiner from Clarity Media Group.[56]
Media outlets initially reported the paper was purchased by Black's company Black Press,[57] but Black only participated as a private investor and held shares in theExaminer separately from Black Press.[56] The other owners included Todd Vogt and Pat Brown. Vogt was named president and CEO while Brown was named chief financial officer of the newly created San Francisco Media Co.[58]
The company acquired theSan Francisco Bay Guardian from Bruce Brugmann in April 2012[59] andSF Weekly fromVoice Media Group in January 2013.[60]
In May 2014, Vogt announced plans to sell his shares of the company to Black Press' Hawaiian-subsidy Oahu Publications Inc., or to buy Black out of the company by the end of the month.[61]
"Unless I can find local partners, I'm not gonna do the deal," Vogt told staff. "I've got 25 days to do a deal or sell out."
Vogt did sell to Oahu, which subsequently became San Francisco Media Co.'s parent company. Dennis Francis, president of Oahu Publications, became the company's new president, and in August 2014, Glenn Zuehls was named publisher.[62]
In October 2014, Zuehls announcedBay Guardian, saying "the obstacles for a profitableBay Guardian are too great to overcome."[63]
In 2020, San Francisco Media Co., including theExaminer andSF Weekly, was sold to Clint Reilly Communications.[64]
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Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press, publishes the largest daily newspaper in Hawaii, theHonolulu Star-Advertiser, along with several community newspapers, magazines and other titles including the entertainment weeklyMidweek.
Sound Publishing Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press, is based inEverett, Washington, and is the largest community news publisher by circulation in the state of Washington.[65] The company's holdings include four daily newspapers,The Herald, thePeninsula Daily News,The Daily World and theTacoma Daily Index government listings publication. Sound Publishing acquired three newspapers in Alaska in 2018.[66] Community newspapers owned by Sound Publishing are:[67]
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In 1998, company owner David Black instructed his British Columbia papers to publish a series of editorials opposing theNisga'a Treaty, which was the first modern treaty in B.C. history, and not to publish editorials in favor of the treaty.
In January 1999, the NDP government filed a complaint to the B.C. Press Council against Black Press, arguing that its policy breached its duty to act in the public interest and violated the council's constitution. Black Press said that news coverage was not affected and editors were free to publish their opinions on their letters page.
The Press Council sided with Black Press based on finding that its newspapers "did in fact carry a diversity of opinion on the Nisga'a Treaty, including those of PremierGlen Clark, Liberal LeaderGordon Campbell, Reform Party PresidentBill Vander Zalm as well as those of ordinary British Columbians".[77]
In August 2007, a story in theVictoria News sparked a complaint from an advertiser and led to the firing/resignation of three senior Black Press employees.Victoria News reporter Brennan Clarke quit the publication after a story he wrote about buying cheaper cars in the United States led to a complaint from Victoria car dealership Dave Wheaton Pontiac Buick GMC. Black Press claimed the article was not balanced, and said that reporters and editors should not purposely jeopardize advertising revenue with their stories, because that revenue pays their salaries. The company also fired theVictoria News long-time editor, Keith Norbury, in part because of the complaint, and Black Press's Vancouver Island Newsgroup regional editor, Brian Lepine, resigned in protest.[78][79]
TheCanadian Association of Journalists publicly questioned the credibility and independence of theVictoria News, wondering how many stories Black Press kills behind the scenes because of advertising concerns.[80]