Press publisher ending 45-year career
<p>Press Publisher Jim Thompson announces his retirement to Coeur d'Alene Press staff Tuesday afternoon at the newspaper.</p>
Jim Thompson, Publisher of the Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls Press, announced his retirement Tuesday.
Thompson’s 45-year newspaper career - 32 years with Hagadone Newspapers and the past 22 years with The Press - will come to a close when his replacement is chosen in the coming weeks or months.
“It’s been a privilege to work for such an outstanding company in such a wonderful community for all these years,” Thompson said. “Looking back, there’s not a single thing I would have done differently.”
Brad Hagadone, President of Hagadone Communications, said, “Jim has been a major contributor to our organization for over 32 years and will be genuinely missed by all of us. He was instrumental in developing our centralized production plant along with always being a creative force in generating new ways to elevate our revenue and product lines.
“We sincerely wish him all that life has to offer in his well-deserved upcoming retirement years.”
Thompson grew up in the Sandpoint newspaper his family founded. He worked in most areas of newspaper publishing during his career. At one point, he was both the advertising director and pressman for the Bonner County Daily Bee.
The Thompsons sold their newspaper holdings to the Hagadones in the early 1980s, and Jim Thompson became publisher of the Bee shortly after the sale. He served in that capacity until March 1994, when he was named publisher of the Coeur d’Alene Press.
During his Coeur d’Alene career, Thompson served as president of the North Idaho News Network and he founded Cd’A Magazine in 1996. The popular magazine is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Thompson also served as president of the company’s entire network of publications from 2001-2007.