About Me
The Boston Herald can trace its roots back to 1846 when a new newspaper named The Herald first appeared. Since that edition, Boston has always had a newspaper with the name "Herald" on its masthead.
However, today's Boston Herald really evolved from a number of different Boston newspapers along two principal lines: that of the Daily Advertiser and that of the old Boston Herald.The Daily Advertiser was established in 1813 in Boston by Nathan Hale, a cousin of the famous patriot. Located near the Old State House, this newspaper served a wealthy Republican audience.
In 1840, the Daily Advertiser took over five older Boston newspapers, including the Independent Chronicle, which was founded in 1768. It continued to gain a higher profile and by the time the Great Fire of 1872 hit newspaper Row (the area near today's Government Center), the Advertiser was keeping Boston well-informed.
In 1884, the Daily Advertiser began printing the Afternoon Record.
Some years later, in 1904, William Randolph Hearst started a new newspaper in Boston called The American. Hearst bought the Daily Advertiser in 1917 and then purchased the Afternoon Record in 1921. (The Record is notable in that it was the first New England newspaper to adopt a tabloid format.) Hearst was now a major media presence in Boston.
By 1938, the Daily Advertiser, Afternoon Record and American had changed their names to Daily Record, Evening American and Sunday Advertiser. In 1961, the Record merged with the American into an "all day newspaper" named the Record American. Three years later, in 1964, the Sunday Advertiser switched to a tabloid format.
The Record American and Sunday Advertiser would continue publication until 1972 when they merged with a line of newspapers stretching back to the old Boston Herald.
Founded in 1846, the Boston Herald was the result of the collaboration of a group of Boston printers joined under the name of John A. French & Co. They published a single sheet, two-sided paper and sold it for 1 penny per copy. Its first editor, William O. Eaton, then only 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 1861, with the advent of the Civil War and an increased demand for news, the Sunday Herald was established.
In 1872, when the Great Fire swept Newspaper Row, Herald editors and reporters worked 48 sleepless hours amidst smoke and flames to deliver the news.
While the Boston Herald flourished and grew, so did the Boston Traveler, founded in 1825 as a bulletin for stagecoach listings. In 1912, the Herald purchased the Traveler, publishing morning and evening editions until 1967, when the Boston Herald effectively absorbed the Boston Traveler, becoming the Boston Herald Traveler.
Several years later, in 1972, the Herald Traveler was sold to the Hearst Corporation (owners of the Record American, descended from the Daily Advertiser), merging in to the Record American/Herald Traveler. In January 1973, the unwieldy name was modified to Boston Herald American. The Boston Herald American became a tabloid newspaper in September 1981. In 1982, the Hearst Corporation sought a buyer for the Herald American.
The Herald American was the immediate predecessor of today's Boston Herald.
Today's Boston Herald came into existence on December 20, 1982, when Rupert Murdoch, Chairman of News American, Inc. bought the tabloid from the Hearst Corporation and changed its name from the Herald American back to the Boston Herald.
For the next decade, the Herald continued to grow in size and circulation, expanding its commitment to cover local news, increased its local sports coverage and strengthened its business and feature sections. This resulted in a strong increase in both advertising revenue and circulation.
In February of 1994, Patrick Purcell, Publisher of the Boston Herald and a News Corp. executive., purchased the Daily Advertiser from Murdoch's News American, Inc. to establish it as an independent newspaper.
Today, the Herald is one of the top newspapers in the nation with a daily circulation of 220,000, while BostonHerald.com is ranked one of the top 10 newspaper Web sites. The Herald is looked to daily by hundreds of thousands of readers for the most compelling coverage of local and national news, sports, politics, celebrity, cutting edge music and arts.
Today's Boston Herald is fueled by edgy columnists like Howie Carr, Peter Gelzinis, The Inside Track and Margery Eagan, a stable of seasoned reporters that includes Michele McPhee, Dave Wedge, Laurel Sweet, Jessica Heslam, Scott Van Voorhis and Casey Ross, award-winning photographers recognized as some of the best in the business and some of the top sportswriters in the nation, including Michael Felger, Gerry Callahan, Tony Massarotti and John Tomase.
