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The Everett Herald
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)Sound Publishing
Founder(s)Sam A. Perkins and Samuel E. Wharton
PublisherJosh O’Connor
EditorMichael Henneke
Opinion editorJon Bauer
Founded1901; 123 years ago (1901)
LanguageEnglish
Headquarters1800 41st St., Suite S-300
Everett, Washington, U.S.
Circulation17,560 (Tuesday–Saturday) (as of 2023)[1]
ISSN2332-0079
OCLC number304341898
Websiteheraldnet.com

The Everett Herald is a daily newspaper based in Everett, Washington, United States. It is owned by Sound Publishing, Inc. The paper serves residents of Snohomish County in the Seattle metropolitan area.

History

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Sam Perkins (1901–1905)

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The first newspaper to be called The Everett Herald was established in 1891 and ceased publication during the Panic of 1893.[2][3] The second incarnation came years later when Sydney "Sam" Albert Perkins, a proprietor of two Tacoma newspapers, purchased the Everett Independent circa January 1901[4] and renamed to The Everett Herald.[2]

The first issue of the newly christened paper published on February 11, 1901[5] with Samuel E. Wharton serving as its editor.[6] A 1908 book covering the history of Snohomish County lists both Perkins and Wharton as the newspaper's founders.[5]

On March 14, 1903, The Everett Herald Company purchased a double corner lot on Colby Avenue and Wall Street for construction of a three-story brick building, which would make it the only paper on the Puget Sound to own the building it occupies. Once complete, the site would house The Herald's newspaper plant equipped with new machinery including a linotype machine from a New York factory, a double-feed Dispatch press and a Whitlock cylinder press. The Herald was to be enlarged to an eight-page seven-column paper, the same size as newspapers in Seattle and Tacoma.[7]

The Best Family (1905–1978)

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Perkins sold the paper to James B. Best, of Everett, and his newly established enterprise, The Daily Herald Company, on September 6, 1905. The price paid for both the building and business was $100,000.[8] At the time the paper's circulation was 4,250.[9]

James B. Best's wife Gertrude Best took over for him when he died in 1922 at the age of 56. By 1926, the paper's circulation was 15,000. Gertrude oversaw The Herald for the next 17 years. She established the paper's photo department and published its first Sunday edition, which was scrapped in 1932 as a result of The Great Depression.[9]

The Everett Herald newspaper office at California and Chestnut Street in Everett, Washington on April 11, 1892.

The Bests' son assumed the role of publisher when his mother suffered a stroke in 1939. She later died in 1947. Robert D. Best Sr. became publisher at 29 and served in that role for 37 years until dying from a stroke in 1976. He was succeeded by his son, Robert D. Best Jr.[9]

The newspaper established a satellite news bureau for southern Snohomish County in May 1954, which later became the Western Sun edition in 1970.[10]

A three-alarm fire occurred February 13, 1956, at the paper's building on Colby and Wall Streets.[11] The explosive blaze began in the basement when a backfiring furnace ignited a pan of oil underneath the $150,000 rotary press.[11][12] Extensive damage occurred throughout the building. Only the business offices escaped the flames, but were damaged by water and smoke. It took two-hours to extinguish the fire. Three firefighters were injured, but none of the 140 newspaper employees were hurt.[12]

An editor said six employees were working in the building when the fire started at 8:53 p.m., but all escaped unharmed. As the building burned, a veteran reporter gathered staff members to remove what office equipment they could from the building before the flames drove them back.[13] Despite the blaze, the paper published the next day by using the facilities of The Seattle Times and Local 23 Photo Engravers Union.[11]

In 1959, The Herald moved its offices and printing presses to a building on California Street.[14]

The Washington Post (1978–2013)

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The Best family owned the newspaper until selling it in 1978 to the Washington Post Company.[15][16] Robert D. Best Jr. remained on as the newspaper's publisher and president. At the time, circulation was 56,200.[17]

The purchase was part of the Post's strategy of acquiring smaller dailies near large cities, and then expanding into some of the big-city territory.[18] The strategy largely failed, and decades later The Herald "remained the awkward survivor of a discarded business strategy," Crosscut.com reporter David Brewster wrote in 2013.[18]

Newsboys for the Everett Daily Herald, c. 1929

On April 5, 1981, The Herald relaunched its Sunday edition and folded the Western Sun edition into the countywide newspaper.[19]

The Herald was an afternoon paper[16] until switching to a morning paper[3] in 1991.[20] The newspaper also acquired a chain of weekly newspapers under The Enterprise in southern Snohomish County, which it operated from 1996 to 2012.[21]

The Daily Herald's website, HeraldNet.com, was launched on January 5, 1997.[15]

The Herald Business Journal launched in April 1998 as monthly magazine covering business and technology. A website for that publication launched in April 2001. The magazine's name was changed to Snohomish County Business Journal in August 2002.[22][23] The name changed back in 2012.[24]

The Journal launched the same month as a competitor, Everett Business Journal, owned by Sun News Inc., which also published The Bellingham Business Journal and The Wenatchee Business Journal. In April 2004, Everett Business Journal ceased publication and its assets were acquired The Herald's publisher. At that time The Herald's business publication had a circulation of 16,000.[25]

The Herald laid off 10 employees on August 19, 2008, due to the 2008 recession. About 15 empty positions company-wide would also not be filled anytime soon. No newsroom employees were laid off.[26]

In January 2013, The Herald announced six employees would be laid off, including four from the newsroom, due to ad revenue loses. Two vacancies would also not be filled, and one news reporter's hours were reduced.[27]

Sound Publishing (2013–present)

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On February 6, 2013, the Washington Post Company announced it was selling the paper to the Sound Publishing division of Black Press, based in Victoria, British Columbia.[28] At the time of purchase, The Herald had a 46,000 daily circulation[18] and a 50,795 Sunday circulation while losing modest amounts of money in recent years.[29] The newspaper then moved to Sound Publishing's offices on Colby Avenue in Everett.[14] On November 6, 2013, the paper announced it would launch a paywall on its website with a limit of 15 free articles. Afterwards, readers would be prompted to subscribe for $8.95 per month.[30]

Ten employees were laid off in February 2017, including four from the newsroom.[31] In February 2019, it was reported The Herald had 200 or so coin-operated newspaper vending machines in operation and was planning to install newspaper racks topped with flat screen monitors at stores. An optical lens on top of the unit would be able to determine a person's age and gender within 15 feet and then play target ads along with sports scores, weather, news and a broadcast anchor.[32] As of 2023, these racks have not been installed in stores.[citation needed] The newspaper's printing plant near Paine Field was replaced in 2022 by a new Sound Publishing plant in Lakewood. The plant includes a press acquired from The Gazette of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.[14]

In April 2020, Sound Publishing laid off 20% of its workforce amid a decline in ad revenue resulting from the COVID-19 recession in the United States. Seventy workers across all departments lost their jobs, including more than a dozen employees who worked on The Herald. No news reporters were laid off, but newsroom employees had their hours reduced 20% to 40%.[33]

In March 2020, The Herald launched the Investigative Journalism Fund in cooperation with the Community Foundation of Snohomish County. As of September that year, the paper had received donations amounting $125,000 to help support investigative journalism. In September 2020, The Herald launched the Environmental and Climate Change Reporting Fund in the same vain.[34] The Health Reporting Initiative launched in October 2022 is funded in part for three years by Premera Blue Cross.[35]

On July 19, 2022, editorial staff members at The Herald announced their intention to unionize, citing poor wages and an inability to retain staff as key concerns they wished to address.[36] The Herald's newsroom employees voted unanimously on September 8 to unionize.[37] On December 25, 2022, The Herald announced it would start using the U.S. Postal Service for same-day delivery. The paper also announced it would cease publishing a Sunday edition and that the Monday edition would be online only.[38]

On June 19, 2024, the newspaper laid off 12 journalists—half of its editorial staff.[39][40] An article on the layoffs posted to The Herald's website was taken down and replaced with version that appeared friendlier to owner Carpenter Media Group, which had acquired Sound Publishing earlier that year. A company executive called the original article a "hit-piece" while The Herald's editors threatened to quit if the story was not republished.[41] On June 24, the paper's newsroom union went on strike for the day to protest layoffs.[42][43][44] The union raised $13,353 on GoFundMe for its strike fund and Rick Larsen, who represents the Everett area in Congress, joined the striking workers Monday.[45] The union alleged the company used a "quota system" based on story count and page views to determine who was going to be laid off and demands all jobs to be reinstated. On June 25, the union extended the strike for a second day until Carpenter Media agreed to set a date to bargain over the job cuts.[46][47] An agreement was eventually reached and in the end 12 union employees were laid off on Aug. 5 with some taking buyouts.[48] The paper's publisher was also replaced July.[49]

Notable court cases

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In March 1983, The Daily Herald lost an appellate court case in the State of Washington in which it sought to quash a subpoena allowing a judicial review of confidential material gathered for articles it had published in 1979 on the cult activities of Theodore Rinaldo, who had since been convicted on charges of rape, indecent liberties and assault.[50] The New York Times reported that the court had ruled that "criminal defendants could force reporters to reveal confidential sources if the information was crucial to the case" and characterized the loss as "a major defeat for the news media".[51] The Daily Herald took the Appeals Court decision to the Washington Supreme Court[50] in State v. Rinaldo 102 Wn.2d 749 (1984), which was heard en banc with the result that the subpoena itself was quashed on the basis that Rinaldo had not met the threshold requirements to compel such an inspection,[52] while upholding the Court of Appeals ruling in general.[53]

References

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  1. ^ "Sound Publishing Media Kit 2023" (PDF). Sound Publishing. April 1, 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 28, 2023. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Looking back: Journalism in early Everett". The Everett Herald. September 28, 2019. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Bagwell, Steve; Stapilus, Randy (2013). New Editions: The Northwest's newspapers as they were, are, and will be. Carlton, Oregon: Ridenbaugh Press. pp. 212–213. ISBN 978-0-945648-10-9. OCLC 861618089.
  4. ^ "Political Pot-Pie". The Seattle Republican. January 11, 1901. p. 3. Retrieved September 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b Brown, J. D. K. (November 1908). "Snohomish County Newspapers". The Coast. XVI (5). Seattle: The Coast Publishing Company: 311. OCLC 81457448. Retrieved March 30, 2020 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ "Wharton, Seattle editor, passes away". The Tacoma Daily Ledger. November 11, 1923. p. 10. Retrieved September 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Everett Herald to erect building". The Tacoma Daily Ledger. March 15, 1903. p. 8. Retrieved September 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Perkins sells Everett Herald". San Juan Islander. September 9, 1905. p. 2. Retrieved September 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ a b c "About The Daily Herald and HeraldNet". The Everett Herald. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  10. ^ Riddle, Margaret (August 9, 2006). "Snohomish County — Thumbnail History". HistoryLink. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  11. ^ a b "Everett Herald building badly damaged by fire Monday night". Port Angeles Evening News. February 14, 1956. p. 2. Retrieved September 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Everett Herald building burns". Spokane Daily Chronicle. February 14, 1956. p. 21. Retrieved September 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ a b c Cornfield, Jerry (April 4, 2022). "On the move: Newer, bigger press will print The Daily Herald". The Everett Herald. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  14. ^ a b "HeraldNet: About The Daily Herald and HeraldNet.com". Archived from the original on December 16, 2007. Retrieved December 23, 2007.
  15. ^ a b Muhlstein, Julie (March 2, 2011). "In 30 years on the job, only headlines seem similar". The Herald. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  16. ^ "Post buys Everett Herald". The Columbian. February 14, 1978. p. 24. Retrieved September 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ a b c Brewster, David (February 6, 2013). "NW media mogul buys Everett paper and enters coastal oil debate". Crosscut.com. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  18. ^ Muhlstein, Julie (April 1, 2021). "40 years of Sundays: Herald's seen changes, mission remains". The Everett Herald. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  19. ^ "A brief history of The Herald". The Everett Herald. February 6, 2013. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  20. ^ Yefimova, Katya (August 28, 2012). "Weekly Herald succumbs to industry trends". The Everett Herald. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  21. ^ "Snohomish County Business Journal". Herald Business Journal. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  22. ^ "Snohomish County Business Journal: Welcome". Snohomish County Business Journal. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  23. ^ Roush, Chris (April 26, 2012). "Washington state biz journal changes name". Talking Biz News. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  24. ^ "Everett Business Journal folds; competitor buys assets". Puget Sound Business Journal. May 12, 2004. Archived from the original on June 19, 2004. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  25. ^ Fetters, Eric (August 21, 2008). "The Everett Herald restructures, cuts 10 jobs". The Everett Herald. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  26. ^ Mackay, Rob (January 4, 2013). "Everett Herald announces layoffs, citing ad revenue". FOX13 News | Seattle & Western Washington | Formerly Q13 News. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  27. ^ Stevick, Eric; Muhlstein, Julie (February 6, 2013). "Daily Herald Co. being sold to Sound Publishing". The Everett Herald. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
  28. ^ Mufson, Steven (February 6, 2013). "Washington Post Co. to sell Everett Herald". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  29. ^ Pattison, Neal (November 6, 2013). "Treating news like it's valuable". The Everett Herald. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  30. ^ Wilson, DJ (February 28, 2017). "Everett Herald lays off 10 employees, 4 from the newsroom". Washington State Wire. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  31. ^ Brown, Andrea (February 19, 2019). "The future of newspaper stands is digital, sort of". The Everett Herald. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  32. ^ Cornfield, Jerry (April 28, 2020). "Amid falling revenue, Sound Publishing lays off 70 workers". The Everett Herald. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  33. ^ O'Connor, Phillip (September 20, 2020). "An update: We're proud and humbled by our readers' support". The Everett Herald. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  34. ^ Staff, Herald (October 23, 2022). "We're launching a health reporting initiative". The Everett Herald. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  35. ^ "Journalists of Everett Herald announce union campaign | The NewsGuild - TNG-CWA". July 19, 2022. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  36. ^ Cornfield, Jerry (September 8, 2022). "Everett Herald journalists vote overwhelmingly to unionize". The Everett Herald. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  37. ^ Podsada, Janice; Cornfield, Jerry (December 25, 2022). "The end of an era for The Daily Herald's Sunday edition". The Everett Herald. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  38. ^ Brown, Andrea; Podsada, Janice (June 19, 2024). "'This breaks my heart': Over half of Everett Herald news staff laid off". The Everett Herald. Archived from the original on June 20, 2024. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  39. ^ Dudley, Brier (June 18, 2024). "Big layoffs at Everett's Herald, Sound Publishing". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  40. ^ Greenstone, Scott (June 20, 2024). "Everett Herald's new owner appears to censor story about layoffs". KUOW. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  41. ^ Tucker, Sarah (June 24, 2024). "Everett Herald workers strike". The Stand. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  42. ^ Woodard, Dustin (June 22, 2024). "The Everett Herald Saga Continues: EverettGuild Members Striking on Monday". MyEverettNews.com. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  43. ^ Finnerty, Mikayla (June 24, 2024). "Everett NewsGuild protests Herald layoffs". Everett Post. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  44. ^ Batdorf, Kurt (June 26, 2024). "Journalists strike after staff cuts". La Conner Weekly News. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  45. ^ Hylton, Chelsea (June 25, 2024). "Everett NewsGuild extends strike over layoffs, demands fair bargaining from owner". KOMO. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  46. ^ Hutton, Caleb (June 25, 2024). "Everett Herald strike continues, as owners aim to resolve layoffs". The Everett Herald. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  47. ^ Finnerty, Mikayla (August 5, 2024). "Journalists say goodbye to the Herald amidst layoffs, update". Everett Post. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  48. ^ O’Connor, Josh (July 20, 2024). "From the Publisher: The Herald's team is committed to readers". Everett Herald. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  49. ^ a b "'Invidiously destructive' decision". Tri-City Herald. March 30, 1983. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  50. ^ "Around the Nation: Newspaper Loses Appeal On Confidential Sources". The New York Times. March 22, 1983. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
  51. ^ "State v. Rinaldo, 689 P. 2d 392 - Wash: Supreme Court 1984". Google Scholar. October 18, 1984. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  52. ^ "Court extends non-disclosure for reporters". The Spokesman-Review. October 19, 1984. Retrieved January 7, 2012.
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