Pressing On: Two Family-Owned Newspapers in the 21st Century

by John C Hughes

Overview

"Pressing On" traces the history of two exceptional family-owned newspapers, The Seattle Times and The Wenatchee World.
Owned and managed by the Blethen family since 1896, The Times' track record of public-service journalism places it in the first-rank of American newspapers: nine Pulitzer Prizes, including the breaking-news award in 2010 for coverage of the Lakewood police officer shootings.
The Woods family has owned and managed the Wenatchee paper since 1907. Its front-page slogan is a classic: "Published in the Apple Capital of the World and the Buckle of the Power Belt of the Great Northwest." Rufus Woods, the legendary grandfather of the present publisher, led the push to create the Grand Coulee Dam. Few daily newspapers of any size can match The World for its sense of community.
With full-color printing, Websites and intuitive smartphone and tablet apps, The Times and The World are reinventing themselves to stay relevant in the Internet age. Their readers have access to high-quality journalism that provides context--from salmon survival to the plight of circus elephants, plus breaking news about landslides, wildfires, high-school sports and the Seattle Seahawks.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940151460095
Publisher:	Washington State Legacy Project
Publication date:	02/03/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

A lifelong resident of Grays Harbor on Washington State's Pacific coast, John C. Hughes has written widely about Northwest history. While attending the University of Puget Sound in the 1960's he found a mentor and friend in Northwest historian Murray Morgan. An Air Force veteran, Hughes also attended the University of Maryland, with a major in English Literature. He joined The Daily World in Aberdeen as a reporter and photographer in 1966 and moved through the chairs to managing editor 10 years later. Hughes became the newspaper's editor and publisher in 2003. He received the "Distinguished Service to Journalism" award of the Western Washington Chapter of the Society of Professional Jouranlists in 2004. He also received a C.B. Blethen Memorial Award for distinguished investigative reporting. Hughes is a trustee of the Washington State Historical Society and former president of Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington.

After 42 years in journalism, Hughes joined the Office of the Secretary of State's Legacy Project as chief oral historian in 2008. Since then he has produced four Legacy Project books: "Nancy Evans, First Rate First Lady"; "Lillian Walker, Washington Civil Rights Pioneer"; "The Inimitable Adele Ferguson, Bremerton's Legendary Columnist"; and " Booth Who? A Biography of Booth Gardner." While with The Daily World, Hughes co-authored with Ryan Teague Beckwith a history of twentieth century Grays Harbor, "On the Harbor: From Black Friday to Nirvana."

John C. Hughes has completed a biography of former U.S. Senator Slade Gorton as well as a biography/oral history of former Washington governor John Spellman.

Hughes says this is his dream job and loves every day working on the stories of great Washingtonians.

Editorial Reviews

'Pressing On' " is a tell-almost-all book about two Washington state families that run newspapers, which makes them a rare and intriguing breed. Rare because most newspaper families sold out to corporate owners long ago. Intriguing because of misbehaving family members, feuds with other publishers and unions, noteworthy journalistic successes and some egregious missteps.

The Seattle Times - John Saul