Daily Chronicle

What Daily Chronicle does

Daily Chronicle is a local newspaper serving DeKalb County, Illinois, operated as part of Shaw Local News Network, the digital publishing division of Shaw Media, a privately held Illinois-based media conglomerate. The publication delivers hyperlocal coverage including local news, municipal and school district reporting, high school and NIU Huskies athletics, opinion content, obituaries, public notices, and entertainment listings. Distribution spans print, the Shaw Local website, a digital eNewspaper edition, native iOS and Android mobile applications, email newsletters, SMS text alerts, and a SmugMug-powered photo store. Customers are local residents, sports enthusiasts (prep sports, NIU athletics, Chicago Bears), local businesses advertising to DeKalb County consumers, and community organizations seeking visibility.

The underlying technology is the shared Shaw Local publishing platform, a multi-site local news network serving Northern Illinois communities with centralized content management, subscription infrastructure, and digital advertising systems. Supporting integrations include OwnLocal for the DeKalb County business directory, SmugMug for photo hosting and commerce, legacy.com for obituaries, and newspapers.com for historical archives. Beyond core journalism, the product set extends to a Friday Night Drive high school football content hub and podcast, daily games and puzzles (crosswords, sudoku), entertainment coverage via The Scene, and community-driven programming including the DeKalb County Finest Readers' Choice Awards and the publication's 175th anniversary campaign.

The business is monetized through three primary streams: print and digital subscriptions (recurring reader revenue), local advertising (display, classifieds, sponsored content, and directory listings), and community events and contests with associated sponsorship (e.g., DeKalb County Finest). Go-to-market is sales-led within a defined geographic radius, leveraging Shaw Local's multi-county network infrastructure and shared marketing resources to reach readers and SMB advertisers. Pricing is subscription-based with tiered print and digital access; specific pricing is not publicly disclosed. The firm is privately held with no public ticker, no venture capital or private equity involvement disclosed, and operates as a single corporate entity under Shaw Local News Network.

Name

Daily Chronicle

Legal name

Shaw Local News Network

Website

https://daily-chronicle.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1851

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Daily Chronicle is a local newspaper serving DeKalb County, Illinois, operated by Shaw Local News Network. It delivers hyperlocal news, high school and NIU athletics coverage, and community events information through print, digital, and mobile channels to local residents and businesses.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper / Community News Publishing

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (51311), Newspaper Publishers (513110)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

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

Keywords

• Local newspaper
• Community news
• Digital publishing
• Print subscriptions
• Local advertising

Headquarters

HQ city

Dekalb

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Subscriptions: Print and digital subscription revenue from local residents seeking local news, sports coverage, and community information. Includes both print subscriber accounts and digital-only accounts.
2. Advertising: Local advertising revenue from DeKalb County businesses, including display ads, classifieds, and sponsored content sections.
3. Events and Contests: Revenue from community events, contests (Readers' Choice Awards, DeKalb County Finest), and associated sponsorship.
4. Business Directory: Local business directory powered by OwnLocal, featuring local business listings and promotions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Daily Chronicle publishes local news, high school and collegiate sports coverage, opinion, obituaries, and community information for DeKalb County, Illinois, across print and digital channels. Core revenue comes from consumer subscriptions (print and digital) and local advertising sold to DeKalb County businesses. The publication is operated as part of Shaw Local News Network, a multi-site Northern Illinois news platform.

Product overview

Daily Chronicle is a local news and sports publication for DeKalb County, Illinois, operated by Shaw Local News Network. The core product is the Daily Chronicle Website delivering local news, sports, opinion, and community content. Supporting digital products include the eNewspaper (digital edition of the print publication), Newsletter and Text Alerts (subscription notification services), the Friday Night Drive sports podcast and content hub, and Games and Puzzles (crosswords and sudoku). Additional offerings include a SmugMug-powered Photo Store for purchasing prints, The Scene entertainment section, Historical Archive via newspapers.com, and a Business Directory powered by OwnLocal. Mobile access is provided through iOS and Android applications.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Daily Chronicle Website Main online news portal delivering local news, sports coverage, opinion pieces, photo galleries, and community content for DeKalb County and surrounding Northern Illinois communities.
• eNewspaper Digital Edition Electronic replica of the printed Daily Chronicle delivered online, giving subscribers the full print edition in a searchable digital format.
• Daily Chronicle Newsletter Email newsletter service delivering Daily Chronicle local news, sports headlines, and community updates to subscribed readers.
• Daily Chronicle Text Alerts SMS text alert service providing breaking news, severe weather warnings, and urgent local updates to subscribers.
• Friday Night Drive High school football content hub featuring articles, game recaps, school-specific landing pages, and a companion podcast covering DeKalb County prep football.
• Games and Puzzles Online daily crossword and sudoku puzzles available through the Shaw Local platform for subscriber entertainment.
• Daily Chronicle Photo Store Online photo store powered by SmugMug allowing readers to purchase prints and digital downloads of Daily Chronicle news and sports photography.
• The Scene Local arts, entertainment, and lifestyle section covering events, dining, and community activities in the DeKalb County region.
• Daily Chronicle Historical Archive Searchable digital archive of past Daily Chronicle editions and historical coverage available via the newspapers.com partnership.
• Daily Chronicle Business Directory Local business directory powered by OwnLocal providing categorized listings, business information, and promotional deals for the DeKalb County area.
• Shaw Local News Mobile App Native iOS and Android mobile applications branded Shaw Local News that deliver Daily Chronicle and other Shaw Local publication content on mobile devices.
• Daily Chronicle Print Newspaper Print edition of the Daily Chronicle newspaper delivered to subscribers and sold at retail, providing the core local news, sports, and community content product.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Shaw Local News NetworkcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerDaily Chronicle operates as part of Shaw Local News Network, a network of local news sites across Northern Illinois. The network provides shared platform infrastructure, digital publishing tools, advertising systems, and marketing resources.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Northwest Herald: Sister publication under Shaw Local News Network covering McHenry County, Illinois. Operates on the same digital publishing platform, subscription system, and advertising infrastructure as Daily Chronicle, making it the most directly comparable local daily in the Shaw Local portfolio.
• Kane County Chronicle: Another Shaw Local sister paper serving Kane County, Illinois, with the same print + digital + events business model. Direct functional and operational peer within the same parent network.
• The Beacon-News: Shaw Local sister publication covering the Aurora area in northeastern Illinois. Shares platform, workflows, and revenue model with Daily Chronicle, providing another close intra-portfolio comparable.
• The Daily Herald: Large suburban Chicago daily (Paddock Publications) covering DuPage, Cook, Kane, Lake, and McHenry counties — geographies that overlap Daily Chronicle's Northern Illinois footprint. A direct local-news competitor in adjacent counties with a much larger scale.
• The Herald-News: Shaw Local sister publication serving the Joliet / Will County market. Another near-identical template: print daily, digital platform, local sports, events, and advertising. Strong operational peer.

Emerging players

• Patch: Digital-first hyperlocal news network covering thousands of U.S. communities. Competes with Daily Chronicle for local digital audience and advertiser attention, particularly in suburban markets like DeKalb County, though at much shallower local depth.
• Block Club Chicago: Chicago-focused nonprofit digital news outlet covering neighborhood-level stories. A comparable hyperlocal digital model in the same regional market, though non-profit and Chicago-city-only; useful for benchmarking digital-only local-news economics.

Broad incumbents

• Lee Enterprises: Publicly traded operator of dozens of community dailies and weekly newspapers across the U.S. Provides a broad-incumbent benchmark for the economics, digital transition, and operating leverage of a multi-title community newspaper portfolio comparable to Shaw Local.
• Gannett: Largest U.S. newspaper publisher (USA TODAY Network), operating hundreds of local titles including community dailies. Establishes the broader industry benchmark for subscription pricing, digital transition, and ad-tech scale that any small community paper must compete against.

Others

• Shaw Media: Parent conglomerate of Shaw Local News Network and the Daily Chronicle. Relevant as the ecosystem enabler — it provides platform, ad-sales, and shared-services infrastructure that defines Daily Chronicle's operating cost structure and strategic options.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/daily_chronicle
• Facebookfacebook.com/dekalb.daily.chronicle

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Daily Chronicle