Sound Publishing, the owners of the Bainbridge Island Review, purchased it as the Whidbey Press in 1988 from David Averill.
BIR started in 1924, which means the paper is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
In late-breaking news as of this publication, Sound Publishing, and Black Press, were in the process of being sold.
“The Bainbridge Island Review is incredibly honored to have served this community with local journalism for one hundred years and looks forward to the next one hundred years,” Kitsap News Group general manager Pili Linares said.
Linares said the paper is honored to be able to put out a special section on the anniversary. “This section gives us a special opportunity to reflect on this huge milestone for the newspaper and the Bainbridge Island community. It gives us a chance to feature significant articles and photos from a century of archives and community reflections about the impact of this newspaper.”
Founded in 1987, what is now Sound Publishing is the largest community news organization in the state, with dailies and weekly newspapers in Canada and Alaska too.
In 1988, Whidbey Press, soon to be known as Black Press, put down roots in Kitsap County with the purchase of the Port Orchard Independent, followed by the acquisition of BIR, Central Kitsap Reporter and North Kitsap Herald, some of which were established in their communities as early as 1890.
The company set up its corporate headquarters alongside a new printing operation in BI.
“David Black, from Sound Publishing’s parent company Black Press, was impressed with the journalistic quality of the publication and the talented employees that were part of the Bainbridge Island Review at the time of purchase,” Linares said.
“Since 1988 the Bainbridge Island Review has been a core newspaper among the Sound Publishing media portfolio, contributing to being the largest publisher of community newspapers in Washington state.”
Executive editor Steve Powell said Review staff is proud of its history, and also that it is contributing to that covering stories like the police-court building, ferry changes and controversies with the school district, growth and city government. Plus the paper has won dozens of Washington Newspaper Publishers Association awards the past four years, and Powell served as president of that organization in 2022.
In 2005, Sound acquired the Kingston Community News, a monthly paper established in 1984.
As Sound kept growing and buying papers all over the state it moved its printing operation to Everett. It purchased the biggest daily paper in the operation obtaining The Daily Herald in Everett in 2013.
In 2021 it bought a new press in Lakewood near Tacoma, where all 30 daily and weekly newspapers are now printed.
