The
Boston Herald is a daily newspaper that serves Boston, Massachusetts,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and its surrounding area. It was started in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the USA. It has been awarded four
Pulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by Hungarian-American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City....
s in its history, the last being in 1954.
History
The
Herald's history can be traced back through two lineages, the
Daily AdvertiserBoston Daily Advertiser was a daily newspaper established in 1813 and purchased by journalist Nathan Hale in 1814. In 1832 The Advertiser took over control of The Boston Patriot, and then in 1840 it took over and absorbed The Boston Gazette....
and the old
Boston Herald, and two media moguls,
William Randolph HearstWilliam Randolph Hearst was an American newspaper magnate and leading newspaper publisher.Hearst was born in San Francisco, California, to millionaire mining engineer George Hearst and Phoebe Apperson. Following preparation at St...
and
Rupert MurdochKeith Rupert Murdoch, AC , usually known as Rupert Murdoch, is an Australian-born American global media mogul. He owns media outlets and is a major shareholder, chairman and managing director of News Corporation ....
.
The Original Boston Herald
The original
Boston Herald was founded in 1846 by a group of Boston printers jointly under the name of John A. French & Company. The paper was published as a single two-sided sheet, selling for one cent. Its first editor, William O. Eaton, just 22 years old, said "The
Herald will be independent in politics and religion; liberal, industrious, enterprising, critically concerned with literacy and dramatic matters, and diligent in its mission to report and analyze the news, local and global."
In 1847 the
Boston Herald absorbed the Boston
American Eagle and the Boston
Daily Times.
The Boston Herald and Boston Journal
In October 1917, John H. Higgins, the publisher and treasurer of the Boston Herald bought out its next door neighbor
The Boston JournalThe Boston Journal was a daily newspaper published in Boston, Massachusetts from 1833 until October 1917 when it was merged with the Boston Herald....
and created
The Boston Herald and Boston Journal
The Boston Traveler
Even earlier than the
Herald, the weekly
American Traveler was founded in 1825 as a bulletin for
stagecoachA stagecoach is a type of four-wheeled closed coach for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach...
listings.
The Boston Evening Traveler
The
Boston Evening Traveler was founded in 1845. The
Boston Evening Traveler was the successor to the weekly
American Traveler and the semi weekly
Boston Traveler.
In 1857
The Boston Atlas,
The Boston Chronicle and
The Evening Telegraph were merged into
The Traveler.
In 1912, the
Herald acquired the
Traveler, continuing to publish both under their own names. After a newspaper strike in 1967, Herald-Traveler Corp. suspended the afternoon
Traveler and absorbed the evening edition into the Herald to create the
Boston Herald Traveler.
The Boston Daily Advertiser
The
Boston Daily Advertiser was established in 1813 in Boston by
Nathan HaleNathan Hale was an American journalist and newspaper publisher who introduced regular editorial comment as a newspaper feature.-Life and career:...
. The paper grew to prominence throughout the 19th century, taking over other Boston area papers. In 1832 The Advertiser took over control of
The Boston Patriot, and then in 1840 it took over and absorbed
The Boston Gazette. The paper was purchased by
William Randolph HearstWilliam Randolph Hearst was an American newspaper magnate and leading newspaper publisher.Hearst was born in San Francisco, California, to millionaire mining engineer George Hearst and Phoebe Apperson. Following preparation at St...
in 1917. In 1920 the
Advertiser was merged with
The Boston Record, initially the combined newspaper was called the
Boston Advertiser however when the combined newspaper became an illustrated tabloid in 1921 it was renamed
The Boston American. Hearst Corp. continued using the name
Advertiser for its Sunday paper until the early 1970s.
The Boston Record
On September 3, 1884
The Boston Evening Record was started by the
Boston Advertiser as a campaign newspaper. The
Record was so popular that it was made a permanent publication.
The Boston American
In 1904, William Randolph Hearst began publishing his own newspaper in Boston called
The American. Hearst ultimately ended up purchasing the
Daily Advertiser in 1917. By 1938, the
Daily Advertiser had changed to the
Daily Record, and
The American had become the
Sunday Advertiser. A third paper owned by Hearst, called the
Afternoon Record, which had been renamed the
Evening American, merged in 1961 with the
Daily Record to form the
Record American. The
Sunday Advertiser and
Record American would ultimately be merged in 1972 into
The Boston Herald Traveler a line of newspapers that stretched back to the old
Boston Herald.
The Boston Herald-Traveler
In 1946, Herald-Traveler Corporation acquired Boston radio station
WHDHWEEI is a sports radio station in Boston, Massachusetts that broadcasts on 850 kHz from a transmitter in Needham, Massachusetts and is owned by Entercom Communications. The station is one of the top rated sports talk radio stations in the nation. Studios are located in Brighton, Massachusetts...
. Two years later, WHDH-FM was licensed, and on November 26, 1957,
WHDH-TVWHDH-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Boston, Massachusetts, serving eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. Its transmitter is located in Newton, Massachusetts. Owned by Sunbeam Television, WHDH is sister to CW affiliate WLVI-TV...
made its début as an
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
affiliate on channel 5. In 1961, WHDH-TV's affiliation switched to
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network, one of television's original "big three", which also include NBC and ABC. Like NBC, CBS started out as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System...
. Herald-Traveler Corp. operated for years under temporary authority from the
Federal Communications CommissionThe Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, directed, and empowered by Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President...
stemming from controversy over luncheon meetings the newspaper's chief executive had with an FCC commissioner during the original licensing process (Some Boston broadcast historians accuse the
Boston Globe of being covertly behind the proceeding. The
Herald Traveler was Republican in sympathies, and the
Globe then had a firm policy of not endorsing political candidates.) The FCC ordered comparative hearings, and in 1969 a competing applicant, Boston Broadcasters, Inc. was granted a construction permit to replace WHDH-TV on channel 5. Herald-Traveler Corp. fought the decision in court—by this time, revenues from channel 5 were all but keeping the newspaper afloat—but its final appeal ran out in 1972, and on March 19 WHDH-TV was forced to surrender channel 5 to the new
WCVB-TVWCVB-TV is a television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, owned by Hearst Television and affiliated with the ABC Television Network. WCVB-TV's studios and transmitter are co-located in Needham, Massachusetts...
.
The Boston Herald-Traveler and Record American
Without a television station to subsidize the newspaper, the
Herald Traveler was no longer able to remain in business, and the newspaper was sold to
Hearst CorporationHearst Communications, Inc. is a privately-held American-based media conglomerate based in the Hearst Tower in New York City, USA. Founded by William Randolph Hearst as an owner of newspapers, the company's holdings now include a wide variety of media...
, which published the rival all-day newspaper, the
Record American. The two papers were merged to become an all-day paper called the
Boston Herald-Traveler and Record American in the morning and
Record-American and Boston Herald Traveler in the afternoon. The afternoon edition was soon dropped and the unwieldy name shortened to
Boston Herald American, with the Sunday edition called the
Sunday Herald Advertiser. The
Herald American was printed in
broadsheetBroadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages . The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of matter, from ballads to political satire. The first broadsheet...
format, and failed to target a particular readership; where the
Record-American had been a typical city
tabloidA tabloid is an industry term for a smaller newspaper format per spread; to a weekly or semi-weekly alternative newspaper that focuses on local-interest stories and entertainment, often distributed free of charge ; or to a newspaper that tends to sensationalize and emphasize or exaggerate or...
, the
Herald-Traveler was a
RepublicanThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP, despite being the younger of the two major parties. In the U.S...
paper.
Murdoch purchases The Herald American
The
Herald American converted to
tabloidA tabloid is an industry term for a smaller newspaper format per spread; to a weekly or semi-weekly alternative newspaper that focuses on local-interest stories and entertainment, often distributed free of charge ; or to a newspaper that tends to sensationalize and emphasize or exaggerate or...
format in September 1981, but Hearst faced steep declines in circulation and advertising. The company announced it would close the
Herald American -- making Boston a one-newspaper town—on December 3, 1982. When the deadline came, Australian media baron
Rupert MurdochKeith Rupert Murdoch, AC , usually known as Rupert Murdoch, is an Australian-born American global media mogul. He owns media outlets and is a major shareholder, chairman and managing director of News Corporation ....
was negotiating to buy the paper and save it. He closed on the deal after 30 hours of talks with Hearst and newspaper unions—and five hours after Hearst had sent out notices to newsroom employees telling them they were terminated. The newspaper announced its own survival the next day with a full-page headline: "You Bet We're Alive!"
The Boston Herald once again
Murdoch changed the paper's name back to the
Boston Herald. The
Herald continued to grow over the ensuing decades, expanding its coverage and increasing its circulation until the early 21st century, when circulation and advertising revenue dropped—part of a phenomenon affecting almost all American newspapers in an expanding age of free media.
Independent ownership
In February 1994, Murdoch's
News CorporationNews Corporation is the world's second largest media conglomerate as of 2008 and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009...
was forced to sell the paper, in order that its subsidiary Fox Television Stations could legally consummate its purchase of
FoxThe Fox Broadcasting Company , commonly referred to as Fox , is an American television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, from 2004 to 2009 Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the 18–49 demographic...
affiliate WFXT (Channel 25). Patrick J. Purcell, who was the publisher of the
Boston Herald and a former
News CorporationNews Corporation is the world's second largest media conglomerate as of 2008 and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009...
executive, purchased the
Herald and established it as an independent newspaper. Several years later, Purcell would give the
Herald a suburban presence it never had by purchasing the money-losing
Community Newspaper CompanyCommunity Newspaper Company, a subsidiary of GateHouse Media, is a newspaper publisher in eastern Massachusetts. It was founded in 1991 as a holding company for several suburban publishers bought by Fidelity Investments; in 2001, Fidelity sold it to the Boston Herald; in 2006, the massive chain --...
from
Fidelity InvestmentsFidelity Investments is an investment company,The biggest mutual fund company in the world. It consists of two independent but closely cooperating companies, Fidelity Management and Research LLC , founded in 1946 and serving North America, Fidelity International Limited , spun off in 1969 and...
. Although the companies merged under the banner of Herald Media, Inc., the suburban papers maintained their distinct editorial and marketing identity.
After years of operating profits at Community Newspaper and losses at the
Herald, Purcell in 2006 sold the suburban chain to newspaper conglomerate Liberty Group Publishing of Illinois, which soon after changed its name to
GateHouse MediaGateHouse Media Inc. is a U.S. newspaper publisher, headquartered in Fairport, New York, that publishes 97 dailies in 20 states and 198 paid weeklies, in addition to free papers, shoppers and specialty and niche publications.- History :Liberty Group Publishing was formed in 1998 when Kenneth L...
. The deal, which also saw GateHouse acquiring
The Patriot LedgerThe Patriot Ledger is a daily afternoon newspaper printed in Quincy, Massachusetts, USA that serves the South Shore. Its circulation is 55,000 on weekdays and 63,000 for its Weekend edition which is published on Saturday mornings....
and
The EnterpriseThe Enterprise is an afternoon daily newspaper published in Brockton, Massachusetts, United States. The newspaper is considered a newspaper of record for Brockton and several suburban communities of northern Bristol and Plymouth counties, and southern Norfolk County, Massachusetts.Owned in common...
in south suburban
QuincyQuincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...
and
BrocktonBrockton is a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population size was recorded as 94,304 in the 2000 census. The city and Plymouth are the county seats of Plymouth County...
, netted $225 million for Purcell, who vowed to use the funds to clear the
Herald's debt and reinvest in the tabloid.
Awards
The
Heralds four Pulitzer Prizes for editorial writing, in 1924, 1927, 1949 and 1954, are among the most awarded to a single newspaper in the category. In 1957 Harry Trask was a young staff photographer at the Traveler
when he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his photo sequence of the sinking of the SS Andrea DoriaSS Andrea Doria was an ocean liner for the Italian Line home ported in Genoa, Italy, most famous for its sinking in 1956. Named after the 16th-century Genoese admiral Andrea Doria, the Andrea Doria had a gross register tonnage of 29,100 and a capacity of about 1,200 passengers and 500 crew...
in July 1956. Herald photographer
Stanley FormanStanley Joseph Forman is a photojournalist who over a four-year period won a Pulitzer Prize three times while working at the Boston Herald American....
received two Pulitzer Prizes consecutively in 1976 and 1977, the first being a dramatic shot of a young child falling in mid-air from her mother's arms on the upper stories of a burning apartment building to the waiting arms of firefighters below, and the latter being of
Ted LandsmarkTheodore C. Landsmark is the president of the Boston Architectural College and was previously the Dean of Graduate and Continuing Education at the Massachusetts College of Art...
, an
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. In the United States, the terms are generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry...
city official, being beaten with an American flag during Boston's school
busingBusing may refer to:* Busing , the use of road vehicle designed to carry passengers* Desegregation busing in the United States* John Busing , American football strong safety...
crisis. In 2006 the Herald won two SABEW awards from The Society of American Business Editors and Writers for its breaking news coverage of the takeover of local company Gillette Co. and for overall excellence.
Columnists
- Howie Carr
Howard Louis "Howie" Carr, Jr. is an American journalist, author, and conservative radio talk-show host based in Boston with a listening audience rooted in New England.-Radio:...
writes extensively on local politics and is a radio talk show host and frequent TV commentator.
- Margery Eagan
Margery Eagan is a long time columnist with the Boston Herald, a talk radio host, and a frequent guest on CNN, ABC, Fox News, and the Imus in the Morning radio show...
and Peter Gelzinis are longtime metro columnists, as is Joe Fitzgerald, who was formerly a sports columnist.
- Michael Graham
Michael Graham is an American talk radio host, writer, and conservative Republican political commentator. His daily talk show, The Natural Truth, airs on WTKK in Boston. A writer, Graham is the author of several books and is a columnist for the Boston Herald.-Career:Graham was born in Los Angeles,...
is an op-ed columnist for the Boston Herald.
- Gerry Callahan
Dennis and Callahan is an American morning radio show on WEEI, a sports radio station in Boston, Massachusetts. The show combines talk of sports and politics, along with current or "water cooler" issues...
is a sports columnist and talk show host for WEEIWEEI is a sports radio station in Boston, Massachusetts that broadcasts on 850 kHz from a transmitter in Needham, Massachusetts and is owned by Entercom Communications. The station is one of the top rated sports talk radio stations in the nation. Studios are located in Brighton, Massachusetts...
.
- Steve Buckley
Steve Buckley is an Irish American journalist. He is a regular columnist with the Boston Herald since 1995, contributing to the papers Sports section. His columns often use historical perspective drawn from a diverse variety of sources. He joined Boston Sports radio station WEEI in 1993, and has...
is a longtime sports columnist and frequent co-host on WEEIWEEI is a sports radio station in Boston, Massachusetts that broadcasts on 850 kHz from a transmitter in Needham, Massachusetts and is owned by Entercom Communications. The station is one of the top rated sports talk radio stations in the nation. Studios are located in Brighton, Massachusetts...
.
- Dave Wedge
David Wedge , is a reporter and political columnist for the Boston Herald and a freelance journalist...
is a political columnist, longtime reporter and frequent TV and radio commentator.
- Jessica Heslam
Jessica Heslam is currently the media reporter for the Boston Herald.Heslam was hired by the Boston newspaper in 2000 from the Patriot Ledger in Quincy, Massachusetts...
covers the media.
- Joe Sciacca is the paper's deputy managing editor. Sciacca is a former political reporter and columnist who is a regular panelist on "Beat the Press" on the WGBH
WGBH is a non-commercial television and radio broadcast service located in Boston, Massachusetts. WGBH is a member station of the Public Broadcasting Service, and has produced many programs for the network, including nearly a third of PBS's national primetime programming...
TV show Greater BostonGreater Boston is the area of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts surrounding the city of Boston. Due to ambiguity in usage, the size of the area referred to can be anywhere between that of the metropolitan statistical area of Boston to that of the city's combined statistical area which includes...
, which is hosted by Emily RooneyEmily Rooney is an American TV talk show host for public broadcasting powerhouse WGBH Boston and former executive producer of ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings....
.
- Kevin Convey is the tabloid's new editor-in-chief, taking over in December 2006 for Ken Chandler, the former editor of the New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, who left the Herald to form his own media consulting firm.
- Laurel Sweet is an award-winning reporter who covers courts and crime.
- Lauren Beckham Falcone covers pop culture, style and all things feature-y for the Boston Herald.
- F. Mark Modzelewski
Francis Marek Modzelewski is a technology entrepreneur, investor and pundit born in Naugatuck, Connecticut, USA.Modzelewski is involved in co-founding and developing new technology companies and was recently involved in the launch of microbial fuel cell company Trophos Energy...
is a Herald blogger and occasional columnist who covers the region's technology scene. He's also the Managing Director of Bang Ventures.
Boston Herald in Education Program
The Boston Herald in Education Program provides teachers throughout
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Most of its population of...
with classroom newspapers and educational materials at no cost. Teachers use the newspapers in the classroom along with frameworks-compatible teacher guides and in-paper educational series. Each day, the Boston Herald distributes approximately 10,000 newspapers to participating classrooms in over 184 communities throughout Massachusetts. October 2007, the In Education program partnered with the Massachusetts Literacy Foundation and
Got Books?Got Books is a Lawrence, Massachusetts-based for-profit book seller and fundraiser. The company collects book donations and repurposes and sells them in several ways. Got Books collects items throughout New England and also accepts CDs, DVDs, videos, and audio books.-History:Got Books was founded...
to support school communities and place fundraising book donation containers at schools across the state in order to help raise money for schools and supplement costs of the newspaper program.
See also
- The Boston Daily Advertiser
Boston Daily Advertiser was a daily newspaper established in 1813 and purchased by journalist Nathan Hale in 1814. In 1832 The Advertiser took over control of The Boston Patriot, and then in 1840 it took over and absorbed The Boston Gazette....
- The Boston Journal
The Boston Journal was a daily newspaper published in Boston, Massachusetts from 1833 until October 1917 when it was merged with the Boston Herald....
- The Boston Evening Transcript
The Boston Evening Transcript was a daily afternoon newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts published from July 24, 1830 to April 30, 1941.-Beginnings:...
- The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993. Its chief print rival is the Boston Herald....
- The Boston Post
External links