Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Seattle Times was founded on the 3rd of May, 1886, by Thomas H. Dempsey and Jud R. Andrews. Alden J. Blethen purchased the paper in August 1896 and renamed it the Seattle Daily Times, establishing the family dynasty that continues today.
The Seattle Times has won 11 Pulitzer Prizes. The most recent was awarded in 2020 to reporters Dominic Gates, Mike Baker, Steve Miletich, and Lewis Kamb for national reporting on the Boeing 737 MAX crashes.
The Blethen family has owned The Seattle Times for five generations. In 2024, they bought back the 49.5% voting common stock stake that The McClatchy Company had held since inheriting it from Knight Ridder in 2006, restoring full family control.
From 1983 to 2009, The Seattle Times controlled advertising, production, marketing, and circulation for both itself and the Hearst-owned Seattle Post-Intelligencer under a Joint Operating Agreement. Each paper kept its own independent newsroom. The JOA ended when the Post-Intelligencer ceased print publication on the 17th of March, 2009.
In February 2002, The Seattle Times ran a subheadline stating "American outshines Kwan, Slutskaya in skating surprise" after Sarah Hughes won gold, despite Michelle Kwan also being American. Asian American community leaders criticized it as perpetuating stereotypes, and Executive Editor Mike Fancher issued a public apology.
On the 17th of October, 2012, The Seattle Times publishers ran ads supporting Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna, representing an $80,000 independent expenditure that made the paper his third largest campaign contributor. More than 100 staff members signed a protest letter to publisher Frank Blethen, calling it an unprecedented act.