The Reporter

What The Reporter does

The Reporter (also known as The Vacaville Reporter) is a daily local newspaper serving Vacaville, California and northern Solano County, owned by MediaNews Group — the parent conglomerate of Digital First Media and Bay Area News Group. The publication has operated as a community news outlet within a single-county geography situated between Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area. Its editorial structure is characteristic of a small newsroom: a publisher (Steve Bressoud), an editor (Jack Bungart), two named local reporters (Richard Bammer and Rebecca Wasik), an advertising sales manager, and an obituaries coordinator — consistent with the 101–250 employee range disclosed in firmographics.

The product stack centers on thereporter.com, built on WordPress.com VIP, with a separate e-Edition digital replica platform (enewspaper.thereporter.com) and a Trinity Audio integration for audio article playback. Monetization runs through multiple subscription tiers: All-Access print+digital at $4.50–$10.75 per week across 6-day, Sunday-only, and Friday–Sunday cadences; Print-Only equivalents at $4.25–$10.50 per week; and Standard Digital and Premium Digital tiers, the latter adding an ad-free experience and account sharing for up to four users. Complementary products include BestReviews consumer-product content (affiliate revenue), Brandpoint sponsored content (branded editorial), Newsbank paid archival access beyond a 14-day free window, and email newsletters. Distribution is multi-channel: print home delivery, retail/newsstand, self-serve online subscription management, mobile apps, and the e-Edition.

The business model combines subscription-recurring and advertising revenues: (1) consumer subscriptions across print and digital tiers, (2) retail and classified advertising managed by NorCal Audience Solutions on an outsourced basis, (3) government-mandated legal public notices (fictitious business names, probate, liens, government meetings), (4) branded content/sponsored articles via Brandpoint, and (5) paid archival access via Newsbank. Go-to-market is hybrid — direct-to-consumer self-serve subscriptions for readers, paired with an enterprise/field sales motion for advertisers and legal-notice customers. Geographic and product focus remain narrow: a single Northern California county and a traditional community-newspaper product set extended into digital and audio formats.

Name

The Reporter

Legal name

The Reporter

Website

https://thereporter.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

The Reporter is a daily local newspaper owned by MediaNews Group, serving Vacaville and northern Solano County, California with local news, sports, business, and community information. It distributes content through print home delivery, digital subscriptions, classifieds, legal public notices, and an e-Edition replica.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110), Newspaper Publishers (51311)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital) (MPAJADAB)

Keywords

• Local newspaper
• Community journalism
• Print subscription
• Digital news
• Classified advertising

Headquarters

HQ city

Vacaville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Subscription Revenue: Recurring subscription revenue from print and digital subscriptions. All-Access subscriptions include both print delivery and digital access. Print-only subscriptions available. Digital subscriptions offered in Standard and Premium tiers.
2. Advertising: Revenue from retail advertising in print and online formats. Local businesses advertise through the newspaper. Advertising managed by NorCal Audience Solutions.
3. Premium Digital Subscriptions: Premium Digital subscription tier provides ad-free experience and account sharing for up to 4 family members, generating incremental subscription revenue.
4. Classifieds and Public Notices: Revenue from classified advertising including employment, real estate, obituaries, and legal public notices. Dedicated classified and legal notice departments.
5. Branded Content: Revenue from branded content partnerships including sponsored content through Brandpoint.
6. News Archive Access: Archive content available through Newsbank.Com for a small charge after 14-day free access period.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Reporter is a daily local newspaper serving Vacaville and northern Solano County, California, delivered through print home delivery and a digital website. It offers print subscriptions, Standard Digital and Premium Digital subscription tiers, and an e-Edition digital replica, alongside retail and classified advertising, public/legal notices, and obituaries. Content covers local news, sports (including high school and Bay Area professional teams), business, lifestyle, opinion, and community information.

Product overview

The Reporter operates as a local news publication with a digital-first distribution strategy. The core offering is the thereporter.com website delivering local news coverage for Vacaville and northern Solano County. The product portfolio consists of multiple subscription tiers (Standard Digital, Premium Digital, Print-Only), a digital e-Edition replica of the printed newspaper, email newsletter services, and a BestReviews content section for consumer product reviews. The publication also offers real estate Open House advertising as a local marketplace feature. All digital subscriptions include access to the e-Edition, email newsletters, and subscriber-only content, with Premium tiers adding an ad-free experience.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Standard Digital Subscription Monthly digital subscription providing unlimited access to exclusive journalism, daily e-Edition access, subscriber-only content, email newsletters, Reader Rewards program, and curated state, national, and international news. Displays ads.
• Premium Digital Subscription Monthly enhanced digital subscription including all Standard Digital features plus an ad-free website experience, access to the network of local news sites throughout the country, and account sharing for up to 4 friends or family members.
• All-Access Print + Digital Subscription Home delivery print subscription bundled with unlimited digital access. Available in 6-day ($10.75/week), Sunday-only ($4.50/week), and Friday-Sunday ($5.50/week) frequency options.
• Print-Only Subscription Traditional home delivery print subscription without digital access. Available in 6-day ($10.50/week), Sunday-only ($4.25/week), and Friday-Sunday ($5.25/week) frequency options.
• e-Edition Digital Replica Digital replica of the printed newspaper hosted at enewspaper.thereporter.com, included with all subscription tiers and also available via daily eNotify email.
• Classified Advertising Classified ad placements for employment, real estate, and merchandise in print and online formats, sold through the dedicated classified advertising department.
• Public and Legal Notices Publication of public notices, legal notices, and obituaries in print and online, accepted via a dedicated legals contact channel and processed through the obituaries department.

Quantifiable outcome

• Website updated daily before 8 a.m.
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• NorCal Audience SolutionscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNorCal Audience Solutions handles advertising sales for The Reporter. They manage retail advertising in print and online formats for local businesses in the Vacaville and Solano County area.
• Digital First Media / Bay Area News GroupcoreOthersParent company operating The Reporter and other regional newspapers. Provides network access for Premium Digital subscribers across local news sites throughout the country. Manages privacy policy, terms of use, and corporate operations.
• BrandpointminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsored content partner providing branded content articles for the publication's sponsor content hub.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Patch.com: Digital-first hyperlocal news network with active coverage in Vacaville and across Solano County. Directly competes with The Reporter for local-news audience attention and classified-ad dollars without the legacy print cost base.
• Nextdoor: Neighborhood-level information and news platform with deep penetration in Vacaville. Competes for the same local-news attention budget and increasingly for local advertising spend, particularly from SMBs that historically advertised in The Reporter.

Broad incumbents

• San Francisco Chronicle: Major metropolitan daily covering the Bay Area, including Solano County. Overlaps with The Reporter on regional sports (49ers, Giants, Warriors, Sharks) and Bay Area news, with a much larger subscription bundle and broader advertiser base.
• Sacramento Bee: Regional daily newspaper covering the greater Sacramento region (Vacaville is in the Sacramento Valley, ~35 miles from Sacramento). Operates a similar print + digital subscription model and competes for the same regional advertising dollars, but at much larger scale under McClatchy ownership.
• Lee Enterprises: Mid-sized U.S. newspaper chain operating dozens of local dailies. Comparable business model (subscription + advertising, print + digital) and similar mid-market local positioning, making it a useful benchmark for local-paper unit economics.
• Gannett | USA TODAY Network: Largest U.S. newspaper chain, operating hundreds of local dailies and weeklies. Competes for national and regional advertising budgets and for shared digital subscription partnerships, and represents the alternative large-scale local-news model that The Reporter's parent competes against.

Regional players

• The Press Democrat: Regional daily serving Sonoma County, California, operated by Gannett. Comparable in scale, market, and print + digital subscription model to The Reporter, though in a separate Northern California geography.

Direct peers

• Vallejo Times-Herald: Daily local newspaper in Vallejo, Solano County, also owned by MediaNews Group / Bay Area News Group. The most directly comparable peer — same parent, same county, same subscription and advertising model, sharing the same advertising sales manager (Kelly Spadorcio) and editor (Jack Bungart).
• The Benicia Herald: Weekly community newspaper serving Benicia, also in Solano County and closely tied to the regional Bay Area News Group / MediaNews network. Competes for the same local advertisers and hyperlocal readers in the immediate geography.
• Daily Republic: Daily newspaper serving Fairfield, also in Solano County, California. Competes for the same local advertising and subscription dollars in overlapping Solano County communities and runs a similar print + digital subscription bundle.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/vacareporter
• Facebookfacebook.com/thereporter
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-reporter

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Reporter