Horvitz Newspapers Inc. has signed separate agreements with
Puget Sound Publishing Co. and Sno-Valley Media Inc. to purchase four
weekly newspapers published in King County that will expand its newspaper
distribution within the county to over 180,000 households. These
acquisitions, announced today, will become effective Dec. 1.
Horvitz Newspapers owns the Eastside Journal and South
County Journal, daily newspapers based in Bellevue and Kent, as well as
two weekly newspapers, the Mercer Island Reporter on Mercer Island and
the Northshore Citizen, based in Bothell.
It will purchase the Renton Reporter, Kent Reporter and Auburn
Reporter from Puget Sound Publishing Co. The Renton Reporter is a
free-distribution weekly newspaper mailed to the residents of Renton. The Kent
Reporter and Auburn Reporter are mailed to the residents of Kent and
Auburn, every other week.
Horvitz Newspapers will also purchase the Snoqualmie Valley
Record from Sno-Valley Media Inc. The Record is a paid weekly
newspaper based in Snoqualmie, serving the communities of North Bend,
Snoqualmie, Fall City, Preston, Carnation and Duvall.
Denis Law, owner and president of Puget Sound Publishing Co., will
join Horvitz Newspapers as vice president of its weekly newspaper division,
and will continue as publisher of the Renton, Kent and Auburn
Reporters, as well as serve as publisher of the Northshore Citizen and
Snoqualmie Valley Record.
Peter Horvitz, president of Horvitz Newspapers, said, “I gained great
respect for Denis while competing against his newspapers in
Renton, Kent and Auburn, and am delighted that he has agreed to allow us to
purchase his newspapers and join our team.”
“The Renton, Kent, and Auburn Reporters have much in common
with the South County Journal, and under common ownership we can take
advantage of their synergies to serve readers and advertisers better,”
Horvitz said.
“We’re very excited about this new venture,” Law said. “As a part
of Horvitz Newspapers, we will have more resources that will enable us
to produce better newspapers for our readers and provide new
marketing opportunities for our advertisers.”
Currently, Sno-Valley Media is owned by Jim and Karen
McKiernan. Jim McKiernan will join Horvitz Newspapers as general manager of
the Snoqualmie Valley Record. He will manage the Record’s day-to-day
operations.
This is the second time in recent years that Horvitz Newspapers
will have owned a weekly newspaper published in the Snoqualmie Valley.
In 1994, it acquired the SnoqualmieValley Reporter,
which was published until January, 1998, when it was closed for financial
reasons.
Horvitz said, “I’m delighted that Jim and Karen McKiernan
have agreed to sell the Snoqualmie Valley Record to us and that Jim will be
joining our company. We’ve known them as a tough competitor, and now I
look forward to welcoming Jim, Karen and the Record to our family of
community newspapers.”
“We are very excited to see a great community newspaper move to
the next level,” said Jim McKiernan. “With the acquisition of Puget
Sound Publishing and the creation of a weekly newspaper division, it’s
obvious to me that Peter recognizes the important role of newspapers like
the Record,” he added. “It is becoming more apparent that people want
news and information that is pertinent to their lives. Weekly newspapers
provide that relevance and are the backbone of many communities. It will
be very exciting to draw on the resources of Horvitz Newspapers to make
the Snoqualmie Valley Record even better.”
“We are very grateful to our loyal readership and many advertisers
for the five great years we have had running the Record,” added
McKiernan. “We plan on staying very involved
in the local community since it has been our home all of our lives. This
change will allow us to focus more on our children and family while still
being involved in the activities of a great community newspaper,” he continued.
Horvitz said, “The addition of these weekly newspapers to our
family of daily and weekly papers in King County will increase our
efficiency and allow us to provide higher quality and better customer service to
our readers and advertisers.”
Horvitz Newspapers is a family-owned company based in
Bellevue, Wash., which owns four daily newspapers, the Eastside Journal,
South County Journal, Peninsula Daily News based in Port Angeles, Wash., and
The Daily Times based in Maryville, Tenn., in addition to the weekly Mercer
Island Reporter and Northshore Citizen.
