PORT ANGELES — Terry Ward, the new publisher of the Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette, Forks Forum and Olympic Peninsula Homes-Land, will be introduced to the community at a reception Wednesday.
The reception also will honor John Brewer, retiring as publisher and editor Oct. 9 after almost 18 years at the PDN and five decades in journalism.
Wednesday’s event will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the second-floor lounge of the Elks Naval Lodge, 131 E. First St. in downtown Port Angeles.
The public is invited to attend. Hors d’oeuvres will be served.
The Port Angeles event will be followed by community receptions in Sequim on Sept. 22 and in Forks on Sept. 23.
Brewer’s experience
Brewer, who will turn 68 in October, has overseen the PDN’s transition from a print-centered operation to one that also delivers content through the Web, social media sites, including Facebook and Twitter, and the PDN’s eEdition, an electronic page-by-page replica of the newspaper’s daily editions tailored for readers in Clallam and Jefferson counties.
He has been PDN editor and publisher since January 1998 after working at The New York Times for 10 years and 19 years at The Associated Press.
Since 2013, Brewer also has been in charge of two weekly newspapers on the North Olympic Peninsula, the Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum; the monthly Olympic Peninsula Homes-Land real estate magazine; and those publications’ active websites.
The PDN, the two weeklies and Homes-Land have been owned since 2011 by Sound Publishing Inc., the largest publisher of community newspapers in the state.
Ward, 43, is working with Brewer over the next month as he takes over the publications and websites.
Ward is the former CEO of KPC Media Group Inc. in northeastern Indiana.
In addition to overseeing KPC’s community newspapers and online publications, Ward launched a digital marketing division that helps small- to medium-sized businesses grow their revenues.
Before joining KPC in 2012, he was director of sales and digital media for GateHouse Media’s Community Newspaper Division, working with 142 publications in 11 states.
Ward grew up as a migrant worker, picking fruits and vegetables across the western United States with his mother, older brother and two older sisters.
The family’s wanderings eventually led to Oklahoma, where Ward began his newspaper career as a reporter while still in high school.
He and his wife, Quinn, have three young children and are leasing a home in Port Angeles.
Other receptions
The reception Tuesday, Sept. 22, will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Sequim Gazette, 147 W. Washington St. in downtown Sequim.
The Forks Forum at 490 S. Forks Ave. will host the reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23.
The public is invited to both receptions.
