The Seattle Times Company is a privately owned

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

of daily and

weekly newspaper Weekly newspaper is a general-news or Current affairs (news format), current affairs publication that is issued once or twice a week in a wide variety broadsheet, magazine, and electronic publishing, digital formats. Similarly, a biweekly newspap ...

s in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. Founded in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington in 1896, the company is in its fourth generation of control by the Blethen family as of 2022.

Alden J. Blethen Alden Joseph Blethen (December 27, 1845 – July 12, 1915) was a teacher and attorney who was editor-in-chief of the ''The Seattle Times, Seattle Daily Times'' from August 10, 1896 until his death. He was often referred to as Colonel Blethen ...

founded the company in 1896, and kept ownership of it in his family, until his son sold a minority stake of 49.5% the company to

Knight Ridder Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. It was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, allowing the latter to become the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States at the time ...

McClatchy McClatchy Media Company, or simply McClatchy and MCC, is an American publishing company incorporated under Delaware's General Corporation Law. Originally based in Sacramento, California, United States, and known as The McClatchy Company, it b ...

now owns the share. Frank A. Blethen, Alden's great-grandson, is the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

and

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of the company.

Properties

The company owns Washington's highest-circulation daily newspaper, ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...

''. Elsewhere in Washington, the company owns the ''

Yakima Herald-Republic The ''Yakima Herald-Republic'' is a newspaper published in Yakima, Washington, and distributed throughout Yakima, Kittitas and Klickitat counties as well as northwest Benton County. History The ''Herald'' was founded in 1889. The paper was ...

'' and ''

Walla Walla Union-Bulletin The ''Walla Walla Union-Bulletin'' (U-B) is a newspaper based in Walla Walla, Washington and owned by the Seattle Times Company. It publishes on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. History The modern ''Union-Bulletin'' can trace its origins to ...

''.

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

-native schoolteacher and attorney

bought the ''Seattle Press-Times'' in 1896, renaming it the ''Seattle Daily Times'' and doubling its circulation to 7,000 six months later. When he died in 1915, the ''Times''' circulation was 70,000. The two smaller papers were added later. The ''Walla Walla Union-Bulletin'' was purchased in 1971, and the ''Yakima Herald-Republic'' in 1991.

Issaquah Press Group

The Times Company acquired ''The'' ''Issaquah Press'' in 1995 from

Pacific Publishing Company The Pacific Publishing Company is a Seattle-based commercial printer and newspaper publisher. The company publishes newspapers in Washington and along with ''Great Basin Sun'' in Nevada and ''Nevada Rancher'' magazine. History Houston media e ...

. The newspaper also acquired the ''Sammamish Review'', ''SnoValley Star'', and ''Newcastle News'' later in 1995. The Issaquah Press Group and its newspapers ceased publication in February 2017. The news website ''theeastside.news'' closed along with the papers. 12 staff were

laid off A layoff or downsizing is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or, more commonly, a group of employees (collective layoff) for business reasons, such as personnel management or downsizing an organization ...

''The Issaquah Press''

Founded in 1900, ''The Issaquah Press'' was the

newspaper of record A newspaper of record is a major national newspaper with large newspaper circulation, circulation whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered authoritative and independent; they are thus "newspapers of record by reputation" and i ...

for

Issaquah, Washington Issaquah ( ) is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 40,051 at the 2020 census. Located in a valley and bisected by Interstate 90, the city is bordered by the Sammamish Plateau to the north and the " Issaquah ...

. It reached 20,000 homes in Issaquah every week.

''Newcastle News''

A monthly newspaper serving

Newcastle, Washington Newcastle is an Eastside (King County, Washington), Eastside city in King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 13,017 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Although Newcastl ...

, that debuted five years after the city was incorporated. The ''Newcastle News'' was mailed free to 5,000 homes in Newcastle.

''Sammamish Review''

Founded as a monthly in 1992, the ''Sammamish Review'' became a weekly in 2007 and was delivered free to 15,000 homes in

Sammamish, Washington Sammamish ( ) is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 67,455 at the 2020 census. Located on a plateau, the city is bordered by Lake Sammamish to the west and the Snoqualmie Valley to the east. Sammamish is s ...

, every Wednesday.

''SnoValley Star''

The SnoValley Star's first issue was published March 6, 2008. The free-distribution weekly newspaper reached 12,400 homes and businesses in North Bend and

Snoqualmie, Washington Snoqualmie ( ) is a city next to Snoqualmie Falls in King County, Washington, United States. It is east of Seattle. Snoqualmie is home to the Northwest Railway Museum. The population was 14,121 at the 2020 census. Etymology The name "Sno ...

Other

In addition to various websites associated with its newspaper properties, The Seattle Times Company also owns Rotary Offset Press, a printing company in

Kent, Washington Kent is a city in King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. It is part of the Seattle metropolitan area, Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue metropolitan area and had a population of 136,588 as of the 2020 Unit ...

Maine newspapers

For about a decade, from 1998 to mid-2009, The Seattle Times Company owned three daily newspapers and three weeklies in the state of

, as part of a subsidiary called Blethen Maine Newspapers. It sold these properties to private investors in 2009, who formed

MaineToday Media MaineToday Media, Inc. (abbreviated as MTM) was a privately owned news publisher of daily and weekly newspapers in the U.S. state of Maine, based in the state's largest city, Portland. It included the ''Portland Press Herald'', the state's la ...

. Blethen Maine Newspapers was built in one acquisition, Seattle Times' purchase of all the newspapers formerly published by

Guy Gannett Communications Guy Gannett Communications was a family-owned business consisting of newspapers in Maine and a handful of television stations in the eastern United States. The company was founded by its namesake, Guy P. Gannett, in 1921, and was managed by a f ...

(not related to the larger

Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. It owns the national newspaper ''USA Today'', as well as several ...

chain). Guy Gannett managers said they sold to The Seattle Times Company because of shared values—both companies were fourth-generation family-owned news organizations. "Of all the companies in the newspaper business, The Seattle Times is one most like our company in the sense of independence, of family ownership, and commitment to the community," said Guy Gannett spokesman Tim O'Meara.Wilmsen, Steven. "Seattle Times Co. Buys Maine Newspapers from Guy Gannett". ''The Boston Globe'', page D1, September 2, 1998. Blethen Maine Newspapers' properties included the state's largest daily, the ''

Portland Press Herald The ''Portland Press Herald'' (abbreviated as ''PPH''; Sunday edition ''Maine Sunday Telegram'') is a daily newspaper based in South Portland, Maine, with a statewide readership. The ''Press Herald'' mainly serves southern Maine and is focused ...

'' and ''Maine Sunday Telegram''; the ''

Kennebec Journal The ''Kennebec Journal'' (''KJ'') is a six-day morning daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or g ...

'' and the ''

Morning Sentinel The ''Morning Sentinel'' is an American daily newspaper published six mornings a week in Waterville, Maine. Printed at the ''Portland Press Herald'' press in South Portland, Maine, it covers cities and towns in parts of Franklin, Kennebec, Peno ...

''; along with their related weeklies. This purchase was estimated to have cost about $213 million.Mapes, Lynda V
"Times Co. Completes Long-Stalled Sale of Maine Newspapers"
''The Seattle Times'', June 16, 2009.

References

External links

*
''The Seattle Times''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seattle Times Company Companies based in Seattle McClatchy Mass media in Seattle