What Sun Herald does

Sun Herald is a regional newspaper serving the Mississippi Gulf Coast, headquartered at 205 DeBuys Road in Gulfport, Mississippi, and operating as a subsidiary of the privately held McClatchy multimedia group. Founded in 1884 as a Biloxi weekly and rebranded to its current form in 1985, the publication delivers local news, sports (including extensive high school and Southern Miss coverage), weather, restaurants, obituaries, and community information across six counties (Harrison, Hancock, Jackson, Pearl River, Stone, and George) covering a population of approximately 460,000. The company employs 51-100 staff and serves a combined weekly print and digital audience of 263,000, with 1M+ unique monthly visitors to SunHerald.com and 5M monthly page views.

The product stack spans a daily print edition, a subscription-gated digital website, an e-Edition digital replica, native iOS and Android mobile applications, and an extensive newsletter portfolio of more than 20 titles covering local news, weather alerts, obituaries, and McClatchy-syndicated lifestyle content. Supporting verticals include Games & Puzzles, Personal Finance (via Money Research Collective), High School Sports, Restaurant Reviews, and a Classifieds marketplace. The underlying technology is a standard digital content management system and mobile app infrastructure, with no proprietary AI or data capabilities disclosed.

Revenue is generated through three streams: recurring digital subscriptions (monthly at $1.99 introductory/$15.99 standard or $159.99 annual), recurring print home delivery subscriptions across Harrison, Hancock, and west Jackson counties, and advertising (display, classifieds, obituaries, and political/advocacy) sold through the McClatchy Advertising platform. Go-to-market is a sales-led, subscription-anchored consumer model distributed via the website, mobile apps, email newsletters, social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube), and traditional home delivery. The newspaper holds a 2006 Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for Public Service, providing brand credibility, and operates as part of a larger McClatchy portfolio that shares content syndication, advertising technology, and corporate resources.

Name

Sun Herald

Legal name

Sun Herald

Website

https://sunherald.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1884

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Sun Herald is a privately held regional newspaper serving the Mississippi Gulf Coast, owned by McClatchy, delivering local news, sports, weather, and community coverage across six counties to a combined print and digital audience of 263,000 weekly readers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Regional Newspaper Publishing

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (51311), Newspaper Publishers (513110), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711), Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industry

News & Content Aggregation Portals (BPAMAAAI)

Keywords

• Local newspaper publishing
• Digital news subscriptions
• Classified advertising marketplace
• Breaking news coverage
• Community journalism

Headquarters

HQ city

Gulfport

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, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Digital Subscriptions: Monthly and annual digital subscription plans providing unlimited access to website content, Edition digital news destination, and mobile apps
2. Print Subscriptions: Home delivery subscriptions serving print readers across Harrison, Hancock, and west Jackson counties, along with southern Stone County
3. Advertising: Advertising services including display ads, classifieds, obituaries, and political/advocacy advertising through McClatchy Advertising

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Sun Herald is a local newspaper serving South Mississippi's Mississippi Gulf Coast region, producing hyperlocal news, sports, weather, entertainment, and obituaries coverage across six counties. It distributes content via a daily print edition, the SunHerald.com website, a digital E-Edition, native iOS/Android mobile apps, and multiple email newsletters, monetized primarily through recurring subscriptions and advertising. The publication operates as part of the McClatchy multimedia company, leveraging shared advertising platforms and syndicated content partnerships.

Product overview

The Sun Herald is a local newspaper serving South Mississippi's Gulf Coast with both print and digital products. The core offering consists of the print edition (137,000 weekly print readers) and the SunHerald.com website (5 million monthly page views, 1 million+ unique visitors monthly). Supporting digital products include E-Edition (subscriber-exclusive digital newspaper), Mobile Apps for iOS/Android, and an extensive Newsletter suite with over 20 different email newsletters covering local news, weather, sports, and lifestyle topics. Additional products include Games & Puzzles with 15+ interactive games, a Money/Personal Finance section, Restaurant Reviews, High School Sports coverage, and a Classifieds marketplace. The company operates a subscription-based model with combined print and digital audience of 263,000 weekly readers across 6 counties.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Reality Check: Special editorial reporting initiative focusing on accountability journalism
• Uniquely
• Best of Coastal Mississippi

Products and services

• Sun Herald Print Edition Seven-day morning newspaper offering comprehensive local news, sports, crime, weather, entertainment, and obituaries coverage for the Mississippi Gulf Coast, with 137,000 weekly print readers across six counties.
• SunHerald.com Digital News Website Primary digital news platform reaching over 1 million unique visitors monthly with 5 million monthly page views, offering breaking news, local coverage, multimedia content, and subscription-based access to Mississippi Gulf Coast reporting.
• Digital Subscription
• E-Edition
• Mobile Apps
• Email Newsletters
• Games & Puzzles
• Classifieds Marketplace
• Video News Content

Quantifiable outcome

• 2006 Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for Public Service Journalism

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• McClatchy Media NetworkcoreOthersSun Herald is part of the McClatchy multimedia company, which acquired the newspaper through its purchase of Knight Ridder in 2006. The newspaper operates as part of McClatchy's portfolio of local news outlets, sharing content syndication, advertising platforms, technology infrastructure, and corporate resources.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• The Charlotte Observer: McClatchy-owned regional daily serving the Charlotte metro; shares infrastructure, syndication, and advertising platforms with Sun Herald and competes in McClatchy's portfolio for shared services and corporate attention.
• The State: Columbia, SC-based McClatchy daily and Sun Herald sister paper; uses the same McClatchy subscription, ad, and CMS infrastructure, providing a clean peer benchmark for digital conversion and retention in a comparable mid-sized regional market.
• Sacramento Bee: Another major McClatchy daily and sister paper to Sun Herald; shares the same content management, ad tech, and subscription stack, and is a useful benchmark for how McClatchy scales digital subscription products across mid-size markets.
• Miami Herald: Flagship McClatchy daily and one of Sun Herald's sister papers; operates a comparable multi-channel digital+print subscription model at much larger scale and is a natural benchmark for digital subscription performance and pricing strategy.

Direct peers

• WLOX: ABC affiliate TV station serving the Biloxi-Gulfport-Pascagoula DMA; competes with Sun Herald for local news audience and advertising spend, especially around breaking news, weather, and severe weather coverage.
• The Clarion-Ledger: Mississippi's largest daily newspaper based in Jackson; also owned by McClatchy (via Gannett legacy in the state) and competes for Mississippi digital subscribers and state-level political/advertising dollars against Sun Herald.

Emerging players

• Magnolia Tribune: Digital-first Mississippi news and politics publication; competes for political/advocacy advertising and readership in Mississippi with Sun Herald, especially around state politics coverage.
• Mississippi Today: Nonprofit digital-first Mississippi news outlet; competes with Sun Herald for statehouse, investigative, and digital subscriber mindshare, particularly among younger, digitally-native Mississippi readers.

Regional players

• Biloxi-D'Iberville Press: Alabama Media Group weekly covering the nearby Mobile-Baldwin market; competes for Gulf Coast advertising dollars and overlapping readership on the Mississippi/Alabama border.
• Hattiesburg American: Daily newspaper serving the Hattiesburg-Laurel market in southeast Mississippi; operates a similar print + digital subscription model and overlaps with Sun Herald's Mississippi coverage area and advertising pool.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/sunherald
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/SunHeraldcom/featured
• Facebookfacebook.com/sunherald
• Instagraminstagram.com/sunheraldbiloxi
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sun-herald

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Sun Herald