Chris Anderson elected to Seattle Times Company Blethen Corporation board of directors.

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 22, 1997--N. Christian (Chris) Anderson III, President and Publisher of The Gazette in Colorado Springs, Colorado, was elected to the Blethen Corporation Board of Directors at the annual board meeting on May 21, 1997. The Blethen Corporation Board is a private family corporation whose major asset is the Seattle Times Company.

Prior to becoming editor of The Orange County Register in 1980, Anderson served as Associate Managing Editor of The Seattle Times and Managing Editor of the Times' owned Walla Walla Union-Bulletin. While he was editor of The Orange County Register, the newspaper won two Pulitzer Prizes.

Frank A. Blethen, Publisher of The Seattle Times and Chief Executive Officer of the Seattle Times Company, is pleased with the addition of Anderson to the Board. "I have known Chris as a professional and as a friend for over 25 years. We first worked together in Walla Walla in 1976. He knows our family and our values. He supports our commitment to quality journalism and independent, private ownership. He is one of the country's best and most respected newspaper journalists. We are fortunate to have his friendship."

Anderson commented on his election, saying "I am delighted to serve as a director of the Blethen Corporation. From the time I first worked with Frank Blethen in Walla Walla, I have greatly admired the values of the Blethen family. I am honored to be asked to be a counselor as this family's commitment to serving the people of the Northwest enters a new century."

Anderson brings a wealth of experience to the Blethen Corporation Board, as board member for a number of other organizations and as a highly respected newspaper professional.

He is an executive board member and upcoming president (1999) of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the Advisory Board of The Poynter Institute for Media Studies and the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education. He chaired the board of directors for New Directions for News, a newspaper think tank, and was a co-founder of the Society of Newspaper Design.

Prior to his becoming publisher in Colorado Springs in 1994, Anderson was Executive Vice President and Associate Publisher of The Orange County Register, the leading newspaper in Orange County, California and the flagship newspaper of Freedom Communications, Inc. While Anderson was its editor, The Register won the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for News Photography and the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Specialized Reporting. Anderson also served as Executive Editor of Freedom Communications, Inc. and Chief Executive Officer of Golden West Publishing, Inc., another Freedom company. Anderson came to The Register in 1980 from The Seattle Times.

Anderson is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 1993 California Newspaper Executive of the Year and 1989 Newspaper Editor of the Year. Anderson is currently serving on the community boards of the Greater Colorado Springs Economic Development Corporation, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Pikes Peak United Way, the Air Force Academy Foundation, the Springs Community Action Network and the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo. He was instrumental in bringing Kids Voting and Race for the Cure to the Pikes Peak region.

Mr. Anderson was born August 4, 1950, and is married with four children. He received a B.A. in liberal studies from Oregon State University in 1972, graduating with honors as the outstanding journalism graduate.

The Seattle Times is a locally and privately owned newspaper. Its family shareholders represent the fourth generation of family ownership since the newspaper was founded by Col. Alden Blethen in 1896. The Times is the winner of two 1997 Pulitzer Prizes for Beat and Investigative Reporting, for a total of seven Pulitzer Prizes.

CONTACT: The Seattle Times

Robert Blethen, 206/464-2294; 206/464-8539 fax

www.seattletimes.com