Journal of the San Juan Islands

Last updated
Journal of the San Juan Islands
Journal of the San Juan Islands July 10, 2013.jpg
Front page of the Journal for July 10, 2013
Type Weekly newspaper
Owner(s) Sound Publishing
PublisherColleen Smith
Staff writersDiane Craig
Founded1906
LanguageEnglish
Circulation 2,063(as of 2023) [1]
ISSN 0734-3809
OCLC number 8582787
Website sanjuanjournal.com

The Journal of the San Juan Islands is a newspaper based in Friday Harbor, Washington. The Journal publishes on Wednesdays. It also publishes SanJuanJournal.com; Springtide, an annual magazine for visitors; The Book of the San Juan Islands, an annual almanac; and special sections related to aspects of island life.

Contents

The Journal was adjudged a legal newspaper for the publication of any and all legal notices on May 6, 1941, by the San Juan County Superior Court.

As of 2013, the economy of the San Juans is almost entirely driven by tourism, which has been described as a "thin base for newspaper endeavors." [2]

Early history

The Journal was founded by Oscar G. Wall, with the first issue publishing on Sept. 13, 1906. [3] Wall relocated to Friday Harbor from Lanesboro, Minnesota, where he had published a newspaper and, from 1878 to 1885, served on the village council. [4]

Originally named the Friday Harbor Journal, [5] [2] Wall launched the newspaper with a stated ambition of helping the thinly populated San Juan archipelago to improve beyond a largely farming- and fishing-based economy. The motto of The Journal in its early days was, "A Square Deal for Everybody."

The Journal was bought in 1907 by its editor, Virgil Frits (1882-1971), who owned, edited and published it until 1958 (Wall died in Friday Harbor on Aug. 16, 1911 at the age of 67 [6] ). Frits was also a longtime town clerk of Friday Harbor. [7] The Journal's competitor, the San Juan Islander, folded in 1914. [8]

During Frits' ownership, The Journal was located in the building next to the San Juan County Bank building, which is now the home of Coldwell Banker. The Journal's historic home is now a retail shop.

The present title was adopted in 1981. [2]

1990s and 2000s

On Oct. 2, 1998, The Journal launched its online news site, SanJuanJournal.com, which gradually expanded to daily news coverage. For much of the first decade of the 2000s, SanJuanJournal.com had more unique visitors than any other online news site in the San Juan Islands.

In 2000, The Journal — which was locally published and locally managed — was a pawn in a fraud involving its owner. At that time, The Journal was part of Lower Mainland Publishing Co., a subsidiary of Hollinger International, which Conrad Black and his associate David Radler controlled. Black and Radler arranged for Hollinger to sell The Journal and the Skagit Valley Argus, on May 1, 2000, to Horizon Publications, a company which they secretly owned, for the sum of $1. [9] Horizon sold The Journal the following year to Black Press (an unrelated firm) for $280,000. [10] The directors of Hollinger were not informed of a previous third-party offer of $750,000 for The Journal alone. [11]

The Journal has been owned since September 2001 by Sound Publishing, Inc., a division of Black Press and the largest community newspaper publisher in Washington.

Between 1999 and 2011, The Journal regularly won awards for General Excellence and Community Service in the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association Better Newspapers Contest; in 2003, it won first place for General Excellence and first and third place for Community Service. In 2006, The Journal's editor won Best Feature Writer and Best Editorial Columnist honors from the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association and the Washington Press Association.

Beginning in 2000, the Journal had a new competitor in SanJuanIslander.com, which took its name from the late 19th century/early 20th century newspaper. The online news site was founded by two former Journal employees, Sharon Kivisto and Matt Pranger. [2]

In 2014, The Journal won 17 awards in the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association Better Newspapers Contest. [3]

Editors

Editors of The Journal include:

1900s-1950s

1960s-1970s

1980s-1990s

2000s-2010s

2020s-

In addition, Jo Bailey (1928-2017), author of several noted cruising guides, among them "Gunkholing in the San Juan Islands," was editor of the Journal's first Springtide magazine.

Noted columnists

Archives

The Journal's archives were donated in 2002 to the San Juan Historical Museum. They are available to review upon appointment. The archives include bound editions of The Journal dating to its earliest editions; bound editions of the San Juan Islander newspaper; and the paste-up boards containing camera-ready pages of journalist Lucile McDonald's 1990 book, "Making History: The People Who Shaped the San Juan Islands," which was published by The Journal's now-defunct printing plant in Friday Harbor.

Extra editions

During the 2000s, The Journal — which is printed on the mainland — produced several extra editions using a high-quality copier in its office. The extras were distributed by hand and in stores, and were offered for free. Several election-night extras were produced. An extra was produced on May 9, 2002, when a devastating fire consumed nearly an entire block of downtown Friday Harbor; the edition also provided information on how residents could help in the recovery effort. The Journal also produced The Daily Fair, a free, four-page newspaper, during the San Juan County Fair; The Journal's booth at the fairgrounds served as a news bureau during the countywide fair.

Journalism education

From 2000 to 2010, the Journal conducted several programs for young journalists: 1) Internships. 2) Election-night reporting for the Associated Press. 3) Voices, a newspaper produced by teens for teens. 4) The Underground, the student newspaper for Friday Harbor High School. 5) The Virgil Frits Award for the year's outstanding student journalist. 6) A $1,000 scholarship for a graduating senior who planned to major in journalism.

Three program participants went on to journalism careers. One, Colleen Smith, is group publisher of The Journal, the Islands' Sounder (Orcas Island), and the Islands Weekly (Lopez Island).

Books by former Journal employees

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Juan Islands</span> Archipelago in the Salish Sea in Washington, US

The San Juan Islands is an archipelago in the Pacific Northwest of the United States between the U.S. state of Washington and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of Washington state, and form the core of San Juan County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Juan County, Washington</span> County in Washington, United States

San Juan County is a county located in the Salish Sea in the far northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 17,788. The county seat and only incorporated town is Friday Harbor, located on San Juan Island. The county was formed on October 31, 1873, from Whatcom County and is named for the San Juan Islands, which are in turn named for Juan Vicente de Güemes, 2nd Count of Revillagigedo, the Viceroy of New Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friday Harbor, Washington</span> Town in Washington, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Juan Island</span> Island in the Salish Sea

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roche Harbor, Washington</span> Unincorporated community in Washington, United States

Roche Harbor is a sheltered harbor on the northwest side of San Juan Island in San Juan County, Washington, United States, and the site of a resort of the same name. Roche Harbor faces Haro Strait and the Canada–United States border. The harbor itself provides one of the better protected anchorages in the islands. The harbor is surrounded on the east side by San Juan Island, on the north side by Pearl Island, and on the west and south sides by Henry Island. Most of the harbor is 35 to 45 feet deep. Roche Harbor has a small airport used primarily by local residents.

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<i>Speeder</i> (motor vessel) Motor launched which was formally named Bainbridge

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References

  1. ↑ "Sound Publishing Media Kit 2023" (PDF). soundpublishing.com. 2023-04-01. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-04-28. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Bagwell, Steve; Stapilus, Randy (2013). New Editions: The Northwest's newspapers as they were, are, and will be. Carlton, Oregon: Ridenbaugh Press. p. 216. ISBN   978-0-945648-10-9. OCLC   861618089.
  3. 1 2 "Journal of the San Juan Islands". Sound Publishing, Inc. 2015. Retrieved 2015-11-10.
  4. ↑ "Fillmore County, Minnesota".
  5. ↑ San Juan Historical Society (2006). "Historic Friday Harbor on Foot" (PDF). p. 15. Retrieved 2015-11-10.
  6. ↑ "Department of Health, Death Certificates, July 1, 1907 - 1960, 1963-1969, 1974; 1994-1996 - Oscar G. - Gilbert Wall - Margaret Mcgrew".
  7. ↑ Vouri, Mike (2009). Friday Harbor. Arcadia Publishing. p. 57. ISBN   9780738558691 . Retrieved 2015-11-10.
  8. ↑ "The San Juan Islander Newspaper (1860-1922) is now Online!". Town of Friday Harbor. 2015. Retrieved 2015-11-10.
  9. ↑ Phan, Phillip Hin Choi (2007). Taking Back the Boardroom. Imperial College Press. p. 123. ISBN   9781860948565 . Retrieved 2015-11-10.
  10. ↑ Paris, Gordon (August 30, 2004). "Report of Investigation by the Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Hollinger International Inc". Securities and Exchange Commission. p. 294. Retrieved 2015-11-10.
  11. ↑ "Black Days Indeed". The Economist . May 13, 2004. Retrieved 2015-11-10.
  12. ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-arthur-70b06641 [ self-published source ]
  13. ↑ Staff report (March 4, 2008). "Anstine named Review editor". Bainbridge Island Review. Retrieved 2015-11-10.
  14. ↑ Staff report (January 10, 2011). "Farewell, Richard Walker – Hello, Scott Rasmussen". The Islands' Sounder. Retrieved 2015-11-10.
  15. ↑ Staff report (June 17, 2015). "Journal editor steps down". Journal of the San Juan Islands. Retrieved 2015-11-10.
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