John Flanagan, editor and publisher of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, resigned yesterday to work for Black Press Ltd., the company scheduled to take over the afternoon newspaper March 15. Black Press, owned by Canadian newspaper operator David Black, is buying the Star-Bulletin from Liberty Newspapers LP as part of a court-approved settlement.
Flanagan, who will be the paper’s editor and publisher under the new owner, said he is leaving Liberty to work on transition issues and to help Black with expansion plans. Alan Portner, chief operating officer for Liberty, and Frank Bridgewater, acting managing editor of the Star-Bulletin, will oversee the newspaper in the interim.
Flanagan, 54, has led the Star-Bulletin since 1993. He joined the newspaper as executive editor in 1986, before Gannett sold the paper to Liberty and purchased The Advertiser. Previously, Flanagan was a longtime Gannett executive. He served as editor of the Marin Independent Journal in Northern California and as managing editor of the Wilmington News Journal in Delaware.
The Star-Bulletin and The Advertiser, which is owned by Gannett, will be published separately when Black’s purchase is completed.
