EVERETT – Josh O’Connor, publisher of The Daily Herald, has been appointed President and Publisher of Sound Publishing, the media company announced Friday.

He succeeds Gloria Fletcher, who left the company recently to become publisher of the Tulsa World and vice president of the South Newspaper Group of Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway Media Group.

O’Connor, who started his new post Friday, is now responsible for statewide operations for Sound Publishing, which also owns The Marysville Globe and The Arlington Times. He will continue as publisher of The Herald.

He said he looks forward to continuing the media company’s success, ensuring that its publications, including new digital products, deliver “relevant, local news that directly affects the lives of those who raise families and work in the communities that Sound serves.”

Sound Publishing produces 42 community weeklies, dailies and bi-weeklies generally in Snohomish, King, Kitsap and Grays Harbor counties, as well as the Olympic Peninsula.

O’Connor joined Sound Publishing’s parent company, Black Press Group Ltd., based in Surrey, B.C., as a sales executive in 1998. Amid several promotions, he rose through the management ranks in Surrey, Richmond and Abbotsford, company officials said.

As Vice President of Newspaper Operations for Sound Publishing, O’Connor was responsible for five community newspapers, as well as Sound’s Press and Mailroom operations in Everett. In 2007, he became publisher of the East Sound community newspaper group, and in May 2013, he was named publisher of The Herald.

“I’m excited about the new challenge,” O’Connor said. “I think there is a lot of hard work ahead of us but a bright future for journalism as we make sense of the ways our content can engage with the future.”

O’Connor, who lives with his family in Issaquah, is a contributor to many community organizations throughout the Puget Sound area.

In a related move, Peninsula Daily News Publisher Terry Ward has been named Vice President of Sound Publishing.

Ward will continue as publisher of the Port Angeles newspaper. He will also oversee Sound’s operations in Kitsap County, Aberdeen and be responsible for the company’s soon to be acquired properties in Juneau, Kenai and Homer, Alaska.

Ward joined Sound Publishing as group publisher overseeing the Olympic Peninsula News Group in September 2015 and was appointed Regional Publisher in April 2016, adding Sound Classifieds and the Kitsap News Group to the list of publications he leads for Sound Publishing.