Issaquah Press, Sammamish Review To Cease Publication

ISSAQUAH, WA - The Issaquah Press Group, which is owned by the Seattle Times Co., announced Thursday that it would shut down on Feb. 24 and cease to publish four local newspapers, including the Sammamish Review and the Issaquah Press.

The publisher cited financial reasons for the closure. The news group had rolled out news and advertising initiatives recently, including deeper community reporting and new advertising products, the company said. While those initiatives did work to increase revenue, subscribers, and website pageviews, it wasn't enough to keep the papers open, the company said.

"Regrettably, even with deep expense cuts, the above wasn’t enough to overcome revenue losses that began over six years ago," General Manager Charles Horton wrote in a letter to subscribers. "After several months of exploring different paths for a sustainable future, we came to this difficult conclusion."

Twelve people will lose their jobs as a result of the closure, including seven in the newsroom, four in advertising and one person in operations. Horton told the employees about the closure on Thursday.

The 117-year-old Issaquah Press is the oldest on the Eastside. The media group also publishes the SnoValley Star (founded 2008) and the Newcastle News (founded 1999), and runs the theeastside.news website. The Sammamish Review was founded in 1992.

Combined, the papers had a circulation of 45,000, according to the company. The Seattle Times Co. bought the papers in 1995, the company said. The Seattle Times is going through staff cuts as well, with up to 23 slated to leave that paper in 2017 through buyouts or layoffs.

Patch.com has reached out to the Seattle Times Co. for comment on this closure and we will update this post as soon as we hear back from them.

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