One of Washington’s largest newspaper publishers announced a restructuring and sale in a desperate bid to survive, providing further evidence of local journalism’s precarious state.
Black Press, a major Canadian publisher and owner of The Herald in Everett and dozens of smaller papers in Washington, announced its sale Monday to financiers and Carpenter Media Group, a Mississippi-based publisher.
The deal isn’t final, however. It’s a proposal in Canadian court where Black Press is seeking to avoid bankruptcy after it was unable to meet debt obligations or find a buyer for its newspapers last year.
In a story published in Black Press papers, CEO Glenn Rogers said the plan “will lead to a stronger, more sustainable Black Press.”
“We are all committed to maintaining the company’s vital journalistic presence in Canada and to a plan that creates the most financially beneficial environment for Black Press to continue to do what it does best — produce excellent journalism and advertising services for the communities it serves all across Canada and the U.S.,” Carpenter Media Group Chairman Todd Carpenter said in the story.
The company also announced the retirement of founder David Black. The Victoria-based publisher took over his father’s community paper in 1975 and built it into a chain of more than 150 dailies and weeklies across Western Canada and several U.S. states. An interview request was declined, with his office citing poor health.