The Portsmouth Herald
Encyclopedia
The Portsmouth Herald is a seven-day daily newspaper serving greater Portsmouth, New Hampshire
. Its coverage area also includes the municipalities of Greenland
, New Castle
, Newington
and Rye, New Hampshire
; and Eliot
, Kittery
, Kittery Point
and South Berwick, Maine
.
News Corporation
acquired The Herald when it bought former owner Dow Jones & Company
for US$5 billion in late 2007. Rupert Murdoch
, the head of News Corp., reportedly told investors before the deal that he would be "selling the local newspapers fairly quickly" after the Dow Jones purchase.
Unlike most New England daily newspapers, The Herald has a higher circulation today than six years ago. Its editors in 2001 credited the newspaper's resurgence with the introduction of the "Wow! factor" -- front-page stories on controversial or sensational topics that appeal to younger readers.
On October 31, 2010, Seacoast Media Group announced plans to Charge online users nearly $69.00 per year to access the previously free content. The fee took effect November 16, 2010.
s in New Hampshire
and Maine
form the Seacoast Media Group
, a subsidiary of Dow Jones Local Media Group, itself a division of News Corporation
. It was acquired for Ottaway by Dow Jones & Company
, which formerly owned the chain, December 1, 1997, in a newspaper swap in which Thomson Corporation
gained The News-Sun of Sun City, Arizona
.
Years before buying The Herald, Ottaway started a weekly newspaper, the Portsmouth Press, in 1987. For six years, that paper competed with the daily. Its publisher, John Tabor, eventually became publisher of The Herald.
The Herald's strongest daily competitors are Foster's Daily Democrat
in nearby Dover, New Hampshire
, and the statewide New Hampshire Union Leader
. In the late 1990s, the Geo. J. Foster Company
launched Foster's Sunday Citizen, to compete with Herald Sunday and the state's largest Sunday paper, the New Hampshire Sunday News. Around the same time, The Herald's Ottaway managers announced they would begin distributing Herald Sunday outside of the daily newspaper's coverage area, into the Exeter
and Hampton
areas, where Seacoast Media Group publishes weeklies.
The paper also faces hometown competition from an alternative newsweekly, The New Hampshire Gazette
. The original Gazette, the oldest newspaper in New Hampshire, was published as the Sunday edition of The Herald from the 1890s to 1960, when the Sunday paper began carrying the name Herald. In 1989, a descendent of the Gazette's founder began publishing an alternative newspaper under that name.
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...
. Its coverage area also includes the municipalities of Greenland
Greenland, New Hampshire
Greenland is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,549 at the 2010 census. It is drained by the Winnicut River and bounded on the northwest by Great Bay.- History :...
, New Castle
New Castle, New Hampshire
New Castle is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 968 at the 2010 census. It is the smallest town in New Hampshire, and the only one located entirely on islands. It is home to Fort Constitution Historic Site, Fort Stark Historic Site, and the New Castle...
, Newington
Newington, New Hampshire
Newington is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 753 at the 2010 census. It is bounded to the west by Great Bay, northwest by Little Bay and northeast by the Piscataqua River. It is home to Portsmouth International Airport at Pease , and to the New...
and Rye, New Hampshire
Rye, New Hampshire
Rye is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,298 at the 2010 census.-History:The first settlement in New Hampshire, originally named Pannaway, was established in 1623 at Odiorne's Point. The first settler in Rye was William Berry...
; and Eliot
Eliot, Maine
Eliot is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 6,204 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical area....
, Kittery
Kittery, Maine
Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 9,543 at the 2000 census. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals...
, Kittery Point
Kittery Point, Maine
Kittery Point is a census-designated place in the town of Kittery, York County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,135 at the 2000 census. Located beside the Atlantic, it is home to Fort McClary State Historic Site and, on Gerrish Island, Fort Foster Park...
and South Berwick, Maine
South Berwick, Maine
South Berwick is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 7,220 at the 2010 census. South Berwick is home to Berwick Academy, a private, co-educational university-preparatory day school founded in 1791...
.
News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
acquired The Herald when it bought former owner Dow Jones & Company
Dow Jones & Company
Dow Jones & Company is an American publishing and financial information firm.The company was founded in 1882 by three reporters: Charles Dow, Edward Jones, and Charles Bergstresser. Like The New York Times and the Washington Post, the company was in recent years publicly traded but privately...
for US$5 billion in late 2007. Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
, the head of News Corp., reportedly told investors before the deal that he would be "selling the local newspapers fairly quickly" after the Dow Jones purchase.
Unlike most New England daily newspapers, The Herald has a higher circulation today than six years ago. Its editors in 2001 credited the newspaper's resurgence with the introduction of the "Wow! factor" -- front-page stories on controversial or sensational topics that appeal to younger readers.
On October 31, 2010, Seacoast Media Group announced plans to Charge online users nearly $69.00 per year to access the previously free content. The fee took effect November 16, 2010.
Ottaway
The Herald and its sister weekly newspaperWeekly newspaper
A weekly newspaper is a general-news publication that is published on newsprint once or twice a week.Such newspapers tend to have smaller circulations than daily newspapers, and are usually based in less-populous communities or small, defined areas within large cities; often, they may cover a...
s in New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
and Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
form the Seacoast Media Group
Seacoast Media Group
Seacoast Media Group is a unit of Dow Jones Local Media Group, itself a subsidiary of Dow Jones & Company. Seacoast publishes five weekly newspapers and one daily, The Portsmouth Herald, along the coasts of New Hampshire and York County, Maine....
, a subsidiary of Dow Jones Local Media Group, itself a division of News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
. It was acquired for Ottaway by Dow Jones & Company
Dow Jones & Company
Dow Jones & Company is an American publishing and financial information firm.The company was founded in 1882 by three reporters: Charles Dow, Edward Jones, and Charles Bergstresser. Like The New York Times and the Washington Post, the company was in recent years publicly traded but privately...
, which formerly owned the chain, December 1, 1997, in a newspaper swap in which Thomson Corporation
Thomson Corporation
The Thomson Corporation was one of the world's largest information companies.Thomson was active in financial services, healthcare sectors, law, science & technology research, and tax & accounting sectors...
gained The News-Sun of Sun City, Arizona
Sun City, Arizona
Sun City is a census-designated place and unincorporated town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The population was 38,309 at the 2000 census...
.
Competition
During the tail end of Thomson's ownership of The Herald, it was seen as corporate and out-of-touch with the local community. Several weekly newspapers sprang up to challenge it in Portsmouth and surrounding towns.Years before buying The Herald, Ottaway started a weekly newspaper, the Portsmouth Press, in 1987. For six years, that paper competed with the daily. Its publisher, John Tabor, eventually became publisher of The Herald.
The Herald
Foster's Daily Democrat
Foster's Daily Democrat is a six-day morning broadsheet newspaper published in Dover, New Hampshire, USA, covering southeast New Hampshire and southwest Maine...
in nearby Dover, New Hampshire
Dover, New Hampshire
Dover is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, in the United States of America. The population was 29,987 at the 2010 census, the largest in the New Hampshire Seacoast region...
, and the statewide New Hampshire Union Leader
New Hampshire Union Leader
The New Hampshire Union Leader is the daily newspaper of Manchester, the largest city in the state of New Hampshire. As of September 2010 it had a daily circulation of 48,342 and the circulation of its Sunday paper, the New Hampshire Sunday News, was 63,991. It was founded in 1863.It was called...
. In the late 1990s, the Geo. J. Foster Company
Geo. J. Foster Company
The Geo. J. Foster Company, also known as the George J. Foster Company, is a private company based in Dover, New Hampshire.The longtime publisher of Foster's Daily Democrat, a daily newspaper based in Dover and covering the Seacoast Region of New Hampshire, Foster owned The Citizen of Laconia, New...
launched Foster's Sunday Citizen, to compete with Herald Sunday and the state's largest Sunday paper, the New Hampshire Sunday News. Around the same time, The Herald
Exeter, New Hampshire
Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The town's population was 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood...
and Hampton
Hampton, New Hampshire
Hampton is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 14,976 at the 2010 census. Located beside the Atlantic Ocean, Hampton is home to Hampton Beach, a summer tourist destination....
areas, where Seacoast Media Group publishes weeklies.
The paper also faces hometown competition from an alternative newsweekly, The New Hampshire Gazette
The New Hampshire Gazette
The New Hampshire Gazette is a non-profit, alternative, bi-weekly newspaper published in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Its editors claim that the paper, published on-and-off in one form or another since 1756, is America's oldest newspaper and has trademarked the phrase "The Nation's Oldest...
. The original Gazette, the oldest newspaper in New Hampshire, was published as the Sunday edition of The Herald from the 1890s to 1960, when the Sunday paper began carrying the name Herald. In 1989, a descendent of the Gazette