South King County Weekly Papers Consolidate into Single Publication, Layoffs Expected
Four local news weeklies in South King County—the Auburn Reporter, Federal Way Mirror, Kent Reporter, and Renton Reporter—are being merged into a single new paper called the South King Reporter. This consolidation, announced by the Alabama-based Carpenter Media Group, means King County is losing a fifth of its printed local papers. The first edition of the South King Reporter is scheduled for publication on Friday, November 6. While each of the original papers will maintain independent websites, their print content will be combined. This move is attributed to rising publishing costs, with newsprint costs increasing by approximately 55% over the past decade, and a growing trend of readers accessing news digitally rather than in print, according to Katie Morgan, national and regional marketing director for Sound Publishing, which is owned by Carpenter Media Group.