The Herald Palladium

What The Herald Palladium does

The Herald-Palladium is a privately held local newspaper serving Southwest Michigan, headquartered at 3450 Hollywood Road in St. Joseph, Michigan. The publication delivers hyperlocal news, sports, features, opinion, obituaries, and community announcements across Berrien County and surrounding communities (including Benton Harbor, Niles, South Haven, Dowagiac, New Buffalo, and Stevensville), and operates two subsidiary publications — South Haven Tribune and Leader Publications — that extend its footprint into adjacent markets. Its product portfolio includes the core print newspaper, a self-serve digital subscription service with automatic renewal, an e-Edition replica hosted on Newsmemory, an in-house video platform branded HP-TV, a classifieds marketplace, an online puzzles and comics offering, and searchable historical archives dating to 1868 (via Newspapers.com) and 1999-present (on its own site). The website is built on the BLOX Content Management System from BLOX Digital, an industry-standard CMS common to U.S. community newspapers.

The business operates on three primary revenue streams: recurring print and digital subscriptions (monthly billing cadence, multiple payment options, cancel-anytime policy), display and digital advertising (including sponsored content and public notices for local businesses and government entities), and transaction-based classified advertising (jobs, vehicles, real estate, obituaries, and life-event announcements). Distribution is multi-modal — physical home delivery and newsstand sales in the regional market, supplemented by self-serve digital subscriptions, e-Edition access, social channels (Facebook, X/Twitter), and email newsletters. The publication is not part of a publicly disclosed parent company or private equity group, and it has no documented funding rounds in the source material.

Name

The Herald Palladium

Legal name

The Herald-Palladium

Website

https://heraldpalladium.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1868

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Herald-Palladium is a privately held local newspaper serving Southwest Michigan communities with print, digital, and video news products. It generates revenue from subscriptions, advertising, and classifieds, and operates subsidiary publications South Haven Tribune and Leader Publications.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper Publishing

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industry

Alternative/Independent Newsweeklies & Opinion Press (MPAJADAH)

Keywords

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

Headquarters

HQ city

Saint Joseph

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Subscription Services: Paid digital and print subscriptions providing access to news content, with automatic renewal billing
2. Advertising: Display advertising, sponsored content, and digital advertising placements for local businesses and national advertisers
3. Classifieds: Paid classified advertising including announcements, obituaries, engagement/wedding/birth announcements, and community postings

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Herald Palladium is a community newspaper publishing local news, sports, features, opinion, obituaries, and classifieds for Southwest Michigan across print and digital channels. It delivers a daily/regular local news product with an e-Edition replica, HP-TV video/multimedia, searchable archives, classified advertising, special section publications, puzzles, and comics, monetized via subscriptions, advertising, and classified fees.

Product overview

The Herald-Palladium is a traditional local newspaper serving Southwest Michigan, operating as a single unified publication rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core offering is the newspaper itself, with digital extensions including an e-Edition for online access, HP-TV for video/multimedia content, and subscription services for premium access. Additional offerings include classifieds, archives through Newspapers.com partnership, puzzles, comics, and special section publications like the Southwest Michigan Tour Guide. The publication is powered by BLOX Content Management System from BLOX Digital.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Herald-Palladium (print and digital newspaper) Flagship local newspaper serving Southwest Michigan communities including Benton Harbor, St. Joseph, Niles, Dowagiac, South Haven, and surrounding areas; delivers local news, sports, community coverage, opinion pieces, and special features through print and digital channels.
• Subscription Services Paid subscription service offering access to premium news content, with options for home delivery and digital-only access. Includes account management, gift subscriptions, and promotional offers, with automatic renewal and a cancel-anytime policy.
• e-Edition Digital edition of the newspaper accessible online through heraldpalladium.mi.newsmemory.com, providing electronic replica access to the print publication.
• HP-TV / Multimedia Video content platform featuring local news videos, sports coverage, and community features, including video articles and embedded multimedia content.
• Classifieds Online classified advertising section featuring local listings for jobs, vehicles, real estate, and personal announcements, including obituaries and life event announcements.
• Historical Archives (web 1999–present and Newspapers.com 1868–present) Historical newspaper archive search service covering content from 1999 to present on the website, with additional access to 1868–present through a Newspapers.com partnership.
• Special Sections Curated special publication editions including the Southwest Michigan Tour Guide and Readers' Choice awards publication.
• Puzzles and Comics Online puzzle games and comic strips for entertainment, accessible through the Herald-Palladium website.

Quantifiable outcome

• Digital archives spanning 1999-present with searchable historical content

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Patch.com: Digital hyperlocal news network with multiple Southwest Michigan community pages. Competes for local readers and SMB advertising in the same geographies without the print cost structure, making it a relevant emerging substitute.

Regional players

• Michigan Chronicle: Detroit-based regional publication with statewide Michigan digital reach. Adjacent comparable because it competes for Michigan state-level digital ad spend and reader attention that the Herald-Palladium's wire stories also draw from.
• The South Bend Tribune: Daily newspaper serving the South Bend-Elkhart-Indiana-Michigan border area just south of Berrien County. Comparable as a regional print+digital daily with subscription and advertising model covering communities that overlap Herald-Palladium's Michigan reader base.

Direct peers

• Battle Creek Enquirer: Gannett-owned daily newspaper serving Calhoun County and surrounding West Michigan communities. Comparable as a Michigan regional daily with print + digital subscription model, local sports coverage, and classified/advertising revenue mix.
• MLive.com: Michigan-focused digital and print local news network covering communities statewide, including Southwest Michigan. Directly comparable because it competes for the same local readers and advertisers in Berrien County with daily news, sports, and classifieds.
• Niles Daily Star: Small daily newspaper serving Niles, Michigan — a community the Herald-Palladium explicitly covers. Comparable as a legacy local daily with print and online editions competing head-to-head for Niles readership and ad dollars.
• Kalamazoo Gazette: West Michigan regional daily published by MLive/Gannett serving the Kalamazoo area. Comparable in scale, GTM, and content mix as a Michigan regional daily competing for Southwest Michigan reader attention and ad budgets.
• The Daily Reporter (Coldwater): Independently owned Michigan community daily with print and digital subscription model. Comparable as a similarly sized Michigan regional newspaper operating in a single local market with subscription and advertising monetization.

Broad incumbents

• Gannett Co. Largest U.S. local newspaper publisher (USA Today network) operating hundreds of regional dailies including Michigan titles like Battle Creek Enquirer. Comparable as a broad incumbent whose portfolio overlaps substantially with the Herald-Palladium's footprint and competitive dynamics.
• Lee Enterprises: Major U.S. local newspaper group operating regional dailies across the Midwest. Comparable as a broad incumbent whose subscription, digital ad, and classifieds stack mirrors the Herald-Palladium's revenue model at much larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/HeraldPalladium
• Facebookfacebook.com/HeraldPalladium
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/herald-palladium

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries2 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 Herald Palladium