Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to theBreaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}Seattle Times publisher and CEO Frank Blethen has announced he will step down at the end of next year after four decades leading the newspaper his family has owned since 1896. Blethen, 79, confirmed his plans Monday in a Seattle Times interview. He has also seen it through difficult lows, including the Great Recession, an industrywide contraction and a seven-week strike by Seattle Times workers that began in 2000. Blethen declined to share his preference for a successor as publisher, but he said he would like it to be a member of the Blethen family.
