Coeur d'Alene Press

About Coeur d'Alene Press

Since 1892, the Coeur d'Alene Press has been the trusted source of local journalism in North Idaho — a daily newspaper that has chronicled the region's transformation from a rough timber and mining frontier into one of the fastest-growing resort and retirement destinations in the American West. Owned by the Hagadone Corporation, the privately held Coeur d'Alene company founded by newspaper magnate Duane B. Hagadone, the Press is the flagship of a family of newspapers spanning Idaho, Montana and Washington. In an era when local newsrooms have been hollowed out nationwide, the Hagadone papers have become known for something increasingly rare: maintaining their journalism staffing and investing in the communities they serve.

History and Founding

Joseph T. Scott published the first issue of the weekly Coeur d'Alene Press on February 20, 1892. In his salutation to readers, Scott declared that the people of Kootenai County were there for a purpose — that nature had placed before them the raw material for building a prosperous and wealthy community — and that the Press proposed to be one of the factors in that development. At its inception, the paper identified itself as an "independent Republican paper, supporting the principles of that party so long as it holds to present doctrines." It published weekly on Saturdays as a four-page, seven-column paper, but by 1906 it had grown to ten pages of content, prompting Scott to make it a daily on August 6, 1906.

By the time the paper went daily, Scott had refined its political identity, describing the Press as "broad gauge independent, but not neutral. The best interests of Coeur d'Alene and its citizens, regardless of party affiliations, will be advocated and supported by the daily Press." On November 18, 1907, the paper's name was changed to the Coeur d'Alene Evening Press, published daily except Sundays; in 1929 the name reverted to the Coeur d'Alene Press, published daily except holidays, and it has continued to the present under that name.

Ownership and Organization

The Press is owned by the Hagadone Corporation, a privately held company founded in 1976 by Duane B. Hagadone in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Hagadone's own story is the stuff of American newspaper legend: he began his career selling newspaper subscriptions and worked his way up to editor, then owner of the paper, before building one of the most successful diversified publishing and hospitality businesses in Idaho history. In a 2006 tribute entered into the Congressional Record, Representative Butch Otter of Idaho described how Hagadone, "with hard work and passion," rose from subscription salesman to found the Hagadone Corporation — a company whose operations span hospitality, golf, restaurants, real estate, media and publishing, advertising, photography, marine and aviation. The company's signature property is the Coeur d'Alene Resort, an 18-story, 338-room hotel on the edge of Lake Coeur d'Alene that opened in 1986.

Within the corporation, the Press is part of the Hagadone Newspaper and Media Groups. President Clint Schroeder has described the company's philosophy in terms of stewardship: the news published daily becomes the historical bedrock of a community, and that information, knowledge and history belong to the people who live there. Hagadone is headquartered in Coeur d'Alene and publishes 16 newspapers in Idaho, Montana and Washington. According to a 2025 profile in Editor & Publisher magazine, the Hagadone Newspaper Media Group had maintained its journalism staffing numbers for five consecutive years — a record the magazine called remarkable in an industry defined by layoffs and contraction.

Coverage Area and Readership

The Coeur d'Alene Press is the leading source of local news, information and community connection in North Idaho. Its coverage centers on Coeur d'Alene and Kootenai County but extends across the Idaho Panhandle, a region that has experienced explosive population growth as newcomers drawn by the lakes, mountains and quality of life have transformed the area's economy and politics. The paper covers city and county government, the region's schools, public lands and recreation, business development, and the cultural life of a community that has grown from a timber town into a year-round destination.

The paper's market position is distinctive: it serves a community that is simultaneously deeply rooted — with multi-generational families tied to the timber and mining industries — and rapidly changing, as growth brings new residents, new development pressures and new political dynamics. Navigating that tension, and giving both longtime residents and newcomers a shared set of facts, is the central challenge of the Press's journalism.

Newsroom and Editorial Approach

The Press operates a full daily newsroom in Coeur d'Alene, with reporters covering local government, community events, breaking news and enterprise stories. Job postings for the paper's general reporter positions describe a newsroom that expects its journalists to write news, feature, enterprise and investigative stories; to attend meetings, press events and public gatherings; and to produce multimedia content including photos and video for both print and digital platforms. The newsroom culture is described as collaborative and community-focused, with mentorship and professional development for reporters working under daily deadlines.

Bill Buley serves as managing editor of the Coeur d'Alene Press. In announcing his appointment, Hagadone leadership emphasized that Buley "understands this community, he understands this newsroom and he understands that the Coeur d'Alene Press belongs to the people of North Idaho" — a statement that captures the company's stewardship philosophy. The paper's editorial mission centers on informing, inspiring and connecting its audience, fostering civic engagement and celebrating the region's character.

Print and Digital Presence

The Press publishes daily in print and maintains cdapress.com as its digital home, where breaking news, e-editions, obituaries and multimedia coverage are available to readers across the region. The paper's production infrastructure reflects its role as a regional printing hub: Hagadone Media Group prints daily and weekly newspapers including the Coeur d'Alene Press, the Bonner County Daily Bee, the Columbia Basin Herald and the Bonners Ferry Herald. In the early 2020s, the company invested $2.1 million in a new 25,500-square-foot newspaper production plant in Coeur d'Alene — at 305 N. Second Street, just north of the Press's offices — to house new press and inserting equipment, with company officials citing market growth in North Idaho as the driver of the need for more production capacity.

The Press occupies two connected buildings in downtown Coeur d'Alene housing its editorial and advertising departments, sharing space in a third connected building where the newspapers are printed. The company's willingness to invest millions in new printing infrastructure at a time when many publishers are abandoning print is a tangible expression of the Hagadone commitment to the newspaper business.

Notable Coverage and Investigations

The Press's journalism spans the full range of a community daily: watchdog coverage of city councils, county commissions and school boards; in-depth reporting on growth and development; coverage of the region's public lands, lakes and recreation economy; and enterprise storytelling about the people shaping North Idaho's future. Its reporters have covered the transformation of the Coeur d'Alene region — from the legacy of mining-era pollution to the boom in tourism, real estate and retirement migration — with the institutional memory that comes from more than 130 years of continuous publication.

The paper's investigative and enterprise work has taken on the issues that define contemporary North Idaho: the pressures of rapid growth on infrastructure, housing and public services; the stewardship of Lake Coeur d'Alene and the surrounding forests; and the political currents running through one of the most closely watched regions in the Mountain West. Its general reporters are expected to produce enterprise and investigative stories alongside daily coverage, a mandate that keeps accountability journalism at the center of the newsroom's work.

Community Role and Impact

As North Idaho's paper of record for more than 130 years, the Press functions as the region's institutional memory. Its archives document the full arc of the area's development — the timber camps and mining towns, the rise of tourism, the arrival of the resort era, and the population boom of the 21st century. For a community undergoing rapid change, that continuity matters: the paper provides longtime residents and newcomers alike with a shared record of where the region has been and how it got here.

The Hagadone company's deep local roots reinforce that role. Duane B. Hagadone was inducted into the Idaho Hall of Fame and named the most influential North Idaho citizen for five consecutive years, and his induction into the Horatio Alger Association in 2004 recognized a career built on the proposition that a local newspaper, well run, can anchor a community's civic and economic life. The company's stated philosophy — that its leaders are "just stewards of these companies for a very short time in the totality of their history" — frames the Press not as a corporate asset but as a community trust.

Awards and Recognition

The Hagadone Newspaper Media Group's most notable industry recognition in recent years has been for its business model itself: the Editor & Publisher profile that highlighted the group's five-year record of maintaining journalism staffing drew national attention as a counterexample to the industry's decline. The company's leaders attribute that sustainability to financial commitment, audience development, diversified revenue streams — and a deeper philosophy of stewardship toward the Pacific Northwest communities the papers serve.

The Press's journalists have earned recognition from state press associations and journalism organizations for reporting, photography and design, consistent with its standing as North Idaho's leading daily. And the company's founder received some of the highest honors available to an American business leader: induction into the Horatio Alger Association, which honors those who overcome adversity and modest beginnings to achieve success; the Idaho Hall of Fame; and repeated recognition as North Idaho's most influential citizen.

Recent Developments

The Press's recent history has been defined by investment rather than retrenchment. The $2.1 million production plant expansion, the maintenance of newsroom staffing levels through five years of industry contraction, and the appointment of veteran editor Bill Buley as managing editor all point in the same direction: a family-owned company doubling down on local journalism in North Idaho. The company's agreement to print The Spokesman-Review, the 132-year-old Spokane daily, further cemented the Hagadone production operation's role as a regional printing hub for the Inland Northwest.

As the Press moves through its second 130 years, it does so as the flagship of a newspaper group that has made a deliberate bet — that community journalism, practiced with local ownership, adequate staffing and a long time horizon, remains a viable and vital business. In Coeur d'Alene, where the paper has published since 1892, that bet is tested every day in the pages of the daily Press.