Sound Publishing news release
After 15 years of successful service with the Port Orchard Independent, Rich Peterson is stepping down as publisher and will be pursuing other interests.
During his tenure with Sound Publishing, Peterson has overseen the growth of the Independent in a variety of areas including managing our award-wining visitor guide Discover Kitsap, which has won first place in the state of Washington numerous times.
“Rich has been an asset to Sound Publishing and to the Port Orchard community for many years and we will certainly miss him”, said Lori Maxim, vice president of West Sound newspaper operations.
Stepping in as publisher of the Independent on Feb. 27 is Sean McDonald, currently publisher of the Central Kitsap Reporter, Bremerton Patriot and Kitsap Navy News. McDonald will continue to publish these titles in addition to taking on the role of publisher of the Independent.
McDonald has been in the newspaper business for more than 20 years having served as advertising director for several daily newspapers in the Northwest as well as in the New England area.
“Rich has done a remarkable job as publisher of the Independent and I am looking forward to continuing the tradition of bringing quality local news and information to the Port Orchard community”, McDonald said. “He and I have been friends and colleagues for years and I am honored to follow in his footsteps”.
In mid-March the Inde-pendent’s office will relocate to the Central Kitsap Reporter and Bremerton Patriot office located in Silverdale.
“We’re still a Port Orchard operation and we’ll still be in Port Orchard,” Maxim said, continuing, “In fact, we’ll have a satellite office in Port Orchard where our reporters and advertising staff will be operating out of. It makes sense to merge some of our office personnel with our existing operations in Silverdale, but we will still be very much a part of the fabric of the Port Orchard community.”
Sound Publishing owns and operates 38 community newspapers and 14 Little Nickel publications in the greater Puget Sound area including the North Kitsap Herald, Kingston Community News, Central Kitsap Reporter, Bremerton Patriot, Port Orchard Independent, Bainbridge Island Review and Kitsap Navy News in Kitsap County.
In fall of 2011, Sound Publishing added the Peninsula Daily News (Port Angeles), Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum to their community newspaper holdings. Collectively Sound Publishing has circulation of 773,126 .
Based in Washington state, Sound Publishing newspapers, classified publications and partner newspapers serve western Washington and western Oregon communities.
Sound’s broad household distribution blankets the entire Greater Puget Sound region, extending northward from Seattle to Canada, south to Salem, Oregon, and westward to the Pacific Ocean.
