Community Newspaper Group Will Cease Publishing Three Biweekly Newspapers

Posted on January 22, 1998

Community Newspaper Group (CNG) will cease publishing three biweekly newspapers in Southwest King County with the Jan. 28 issues.

H. Mason Sizemore, president of the Seattle Times Company, which owns CNG, said the community newspapers have not been profitable and that there are no indications they will be. The Seattle Times Company bought the community newspapers out of bankruptcy in 1991.

Despite award-winning journalism by the Federal Way News, the Highline News and the Des Moines News, the newspapers have been unable to attract enough advertising and subscribers to cover costs, Sizemore said. The newspapers serve a market of 110,000 homes covering Federal Way, Burien, Des Moines, Tukwila, Normandy Park, Northeast Tacoma, Kent West Hill, and SeaTac.

The approximately 60 CNG employees will receive severance benefits based primarily on their length of service. Some employees will remain on the job for a few months to handle business issues related to the closure. Several of the employees will be offered positions at the Times or with one of its subsidiaries.

The decision to close the CNG newspapers does not affect the weekly Issaquah Press, which is also owned by the Seattle Times Company. Sizemore said the Issaquah Press is profitable.