''The Daily Herald'' is a daily newspaper in

Columbia, Tennessee Columbia is a city in and the county seat of Maury County, Tennessee. The population was 41,690 as of the 2020 United States census. Columbia is included in the Nashville metropolitan area. The self-proclaimed "mule capital of the world," Colu ...

. The newspaper is published six days a week Sunday through Friday; the paper does not publish on Saturday. Although it is primarily distributed to

Maury County, Tennessee Maury County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee, in the Middle Tennessee region. As of the 2020 census, the population was 100,974. Its county seat is Columbia. Maury County is part of the Nashville-Davidson– Murfreesb ...

its Newspaper Designated Market (N.D.M.) stretches into five counties in Southern

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the state's capital an ...

. The five county distribution area of ''The Daily Herald'' includes: Maury County, Tennessee;

Marshall County, Tennessee Marshall County is a county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is der ...

;

Lewis County, Tennessee Lewis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,582. Its county seat is Hohenwald. The county is named for explorer Meriwether Lewis, who died and was buried at Grinder's Stand n ...

; and the northern halves of both

Giles County, Tennessee Giles County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borde ...

and

Lawrence County, Tennessee Lawrence County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,159. Its county seat and largest city is Lawrenceburg. Lawrence County comprises the Lawrenceburg, TN Micropolitan Statistical A ...

History

''The Daily Herald'' was founded as a weekly newspaper in 1848, when Columbia's population was only 1,700 people. In 1899, the newspaper converted from weekly to daily delivery. The city now has a population 34,811 in 2010 with a county population exceeding 81,956. Weekday circulation (Monday-Friday) is 11,500 and Sunday circulation is 13,500, according to audited figures.

Ownership

In 1916 the newspaper was purchased by Walter D. Hastings and James I. Finney. Beginning in 1965 the newspaper was purchased by local businessman and politician Sam Delk Kennedy who also served as publisher. Kennedy served as either Editor or Publisher or both from 1965 to 1983. It was acquired by the Donrey Media Group (founder Donald W. Reynolds) in 1983. Reynolds died in 1993. The company was then sold to the Stephens family of Arkansas, best known for their investment banking business

Stephens Inc. Stephens Inc. is a privately held, independent financial services firm headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. As one of the largest privately owned investment banks in the United States, Stephens has 28 offices worldwide and employs more than 1,2 ...

Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

. After Stephens acquired the group, some of Donrey's properties were sold off, and the company moved its headquarters to

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, home of its largest newspaper, the ''

Las Vegas Review-Journal The ''Las Vegas Review-Journal'' is a daily subscription newspaper published in Las Vegas, Nevada, since 1909. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada and one of two daily newspapers in the Las Vegas area. The ''Review-Journal' ...

''. The company was renamed Stephens Media Group in 2002. Most of Stephens newspapers operated in small to medium-sized towns and cities, but the company also owns the ''

'', a 186,000 circulation newspaper. In June 2006 the company became officially known as Stephens Media LLC and continued Mr. Reynolds' business philosophy of locally operated companies. Stephens Media LLC was a

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

diversified media

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

that published over 11 daily and 64 weekly newspapers in nine states, primarily in

and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. In 2015, the Stephens Media newspapers were sold to

New Media Investment Group Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. It owns the national newspaper ''USA Today'', as well as several ...

. GateHouse Media a wholly owned subsidiary of New Media Investment Group that will be managing the portfolio of 125 Daily Newspapers and 575 Weekly Newspapers in 32 states throughout the U. S.

Recent publishers

Sam Kennedy served as the newspaper's publisher during the decades of the 1960s through 1983. Douglas Beel (from Arkansas) became the newspaper's publisher from 1983 until 1996. In 1996, Mark Palmer (from

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

) was named publisher. Keith Ponder served as Publisher from October 2015 to April 2020. James Bennett served as editor from 2014 to September 2020. Major department heads at the newspaper currently include; Editor Kerri Bartlett since Dec. 28, 2020, Advertising Director is under the management of Local IQ/ Gannett. Advertiser News of Spring Hill, sister publication, is no longer in publication as of fall 2023.

Subsidiary publications

* '' The Advertiser News'' ( Spring Hill & Thompson's Station, Tennessee) No longer in publication. * ''The Value Guide'' (Maury County, Tennessee) * ''Spring Hill Life'' (

Spring Hill, Tennessee Spring Hill is a city in Maury and Williamson counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, located approximately south of Nashville. Its population as of 2022 is 55,800. Spring Hill is recognized as the 4th fastest growing city in Tennessee by th ...

) * ''Healthy Living'' (Six Counties in Southern Middle Tennessee)

References

External links

*
Stephens Media LLC
official website * https://www.columbiadailyherald.com/story/news/2020/12/04/kerri-bartlett-new-editor-columbia-daily-herald-advertiser-news/3826932001/ {{Gannett Newspapers published in Tennessee Maury County, Tennessee Newspapers established in 1848 Daily newspapers published in the United States 1848 establishments in Tennessee Gannett publications