Black Press

This article is about the Canadian publishing company. For the African American media organization, see Historical Black Press Foundation.

Black Press is a publication company that produces community newspapers in the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia in Canada and the states of Washington, Hawaii and Ohio in the United States. Black Press also owns and operates over 100 websites in the U.S., Canada and the UK. It is currently owned and administered by David Holmes Black, who is not related to Canadian-born British former media mogul Conrad Black. The company is 20% owned by Torstar, another Canadian publishing company.

Black Press is Canada’s largest independent print media company with more than 170 community, daily and urban newspapers in Canada and the United States. Black Press serves small communities like Barriere and Sooke as well as British Columbia's major urban centres, Victoria and Vancouver. Its papers are widely read in some of the fastest-growing communities in Canada, like Kelowna, Nanaimo and Surrey. Black Press is home to some of the oldest newspapers in British Columbia, like the Chilliwack Progress, founded in 1891, and the Ashcroft Journal, which first published in 1895, and modern, cosmopolitan voices like the Westender, in Vancouver. ^[1]

On June 27, 2007, Black Press announced a $405 million takeover offer for Osprey Media, putting it in competition with Quebecor Media for Osprey's assets. Quebecor subsequently put in a higher bid and won ownership of Osprey.

Newspapers

Community

BC Lower Mainland Division

Abbotsford News Abbotsford News Free Daily Agassiz-Harrison Observer Aldergrove Star Bowen Island Undercurrent Burnaby News Leader Chilliwack Progress Chilliwack Progress Free Daily Cloverdale Reporter Hope Standard Langley Times Maple Ridge - Pitt Meadows News Golden Ears Free Daily

Mission City Record New Local Home New Westminster News Leader North Shore Outlook Peace Arch News Peace Arch News Free Daily Richmond Review South Delta Leader Surrey Leader Surrey Leader Free Daily Tri-City News WestEnder

Vancouver Island Division

Alberni Valley News Campbell River Mirror Comox Valley Record Comox, Courtenay & Campbell River Free Daily Cowichan News Leader Pictorial Cowichan Valley Free Daily Goldstream News Gazette Gulf Island Driftwood Ladysmith Chronicle Lake Cowichan Gazette Monday Magazine Nanaimo News Bulletin

North Island Gazette North Island MidWeek Oak Bay News Parksville Qualicum News Parksville & Nanaimo Free Daily Peninsula News Review Saanich News Sooke News Mirror Victoria News Victoria News Free Daily Real Estate Victoria

BC Interior Division

100 Mile House Free Press Ashcroft Cache Creek Journal Barriere North Thompson Star Journal Bella Coola Coast Mountain News Burns Lake Lakes District News Cariboo Connector Castlegar News Clearwater North Thompson Times Creston Valley Advance Fernie Free Press Fort St. James Caledonia Courier Golden Star Grand Forks Boundary Advertiser Grand Forks Gazette Grapes to Wine Houston Today Invermere Valley Echo Kamloops This Week Kelowna Capital News Keremeos OK Falls Review Kitimat Northern Sentinel Kootenay News Advertiser Kootenay Woman Lakeshore News Merritt Herald Nakusp Arrow Lakes News

Nelson Star Northern Connector Penticton Western News Prince George Free Press Prince Rupert Northern View Princeton Similkameen Spotlight Quesnel Cariboo Observer Revelstoke Times Review Rossland News Salmon Arm Observer Shuswap Market News Sicamous Eagle Valley News Smithers Interior News Stuart Nechako Advertiser Summerland Review Terrace Standard Trail Daily Times Vanderhoof Omineca Express Vernon Morning Star West Kootenay Advertiser Williams Lake Cariboo Advisor Williams Lake Tribune Williams Lake Weekender Wine Trails Winfield Lake Country News

Sound Publishing Division^[2]

Sound Publishing has a headquarters in Poulsbo, Washington.^[3]

Arlington Times Auburn Reporter Bainbridge Island Review Bellevue Reporter The Bellingham Business Journal Bonney Lake & Sumner Courier-Herald Bothell/Kenmore Reporter Bremerton Patriot Central Kitsap Reporter Covington/Maple Valley Reporter Enumclaw Courier-Herald[3] Federal Way Mirror Islands' Sounder Issaquah/Sammamish Reporter The Islands Weekly Journal of the San Juan Islands Kent Reporter Kingston Community News

Kirkland Reporter (Formerly the Kirkland Courier) Little Nickel Classifieds Marysville Globe Mercer Island Reporter Nickel Ads Classifieds North Kitsap Herald North Whidbey TMC Northwest Navigator (Kitsap Edition) Northwest Navigator (Whidbey/Everett Edition) PNWLocalNews.com (Online only) Port Orchard Independent Redmond Reporter Renton Reporter Snoqualmie Valley Record South Whidbey Record Tacoma Daily Index Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber Wenatchee Business Journal Whidbey News-Times

Alberta Division

Bashaw Star Castor Advance Central Alberta Advisor Manitoba Farm Life Northern Agvisor Ponoka News Red Deer Advocate

Red Deer Express Red Deer Life Rimbey Review Saskatchewan Farm Life Southern Advisor Stettler Independent Your House Your Home

Oahu Publications

• Honolulu Star-Advertiser
• Midweek

Beacon Journal Publishing Company

• Akron Beacon Journal

Magazines

• Indulge
• Where Magazine Victoria

Independents

Fort Nelson News Greenwood Boundary Creek Times Northeast News Oliver Chronicle

Osoyoos Times Peachland View Valemount Valley Express

Controversy

In August, 2007, a story in the Victoria 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 the Victoria 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.^[4] The Canadian Association of Journalists publicly questioned the credibility and independence of the Victoria News, wondering how many stories Black Press kills behind the scenes because of advertising concerns.^[5]

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ "PNWLocalNews.com Community". http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/community/. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Courier-Herald sale is finalized". Enumclaw Courier-Herald. June 11, 2008. http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/south_king/ech/news/35970734.html. 
4. ^ Public Eye Online - Black on Black
5. ^ Public Eye Online - A question of credibility

External links

• Black Press