The Bellingham Herald

What The Bellingham Herald does

The Bellingham Herald is a local newspaper and multi-platform digital news outlet serving Whatcom County, Washington. Founded in 1890 as the Fairhaven Herald, it adopted its current name in 1903 following the consolidation of Bellingham-area cities and has operated continuously since. The publication is wholly owned by McClatchy, a private media conglomerate that was taken private by hedge funds in 2020 following a bankruptcy proceeding. The Bellingham Herald reaches 57,000+ daily readers through print home delivery, the BellinghamHerald.com website, native iPhone and Android applications, and a digital eEdition, supported by a staff of approximately 30 employees headquartered in Bellingham's Barkley District.

The product portfolio spans a traditional daily and Sunday print newspaper (8,719 daily and 11,768 Sunday circulation as of 2018), the BellinghamHerald.com content platform, an eEdition digital newspaper, mobile applications, an extensive email newsletter suite (Morning Report, Breaking News, Discover Whatcom, Around Bellingham, among others), and supplemental offerings such as games and puzzles (powered by Arkadium), obituary listings (via Legacy.com), classifieds, product reviews, and searchable public records databases. The underlying technology is a standard CMS-driven multi-channel publishing stack integrated with shared McClatchy network services for classifieds, advertising, and authentication.

Revenue is generated through three primary streams: recurring digital subscriptions (monthly at $15.99, or $1.99 in the first promotional month, and annual at $159.99), recurring print subscriptions with home delivery throughout most of Whatcom County, and advertising (display, classifieds, obituaries, and sponsored content). The go-to-market motion is direct-to-consumer, with subscriptions sold via the publication's own checkout and self-service account portal, complemented by a McClatchy-wide shared advertising sales infrastructure.

Name

The Bellingham Herald

Legal name

The Bellingham Herald

Website

https://bellinghamherald.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1890

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Bellingham Herald is a local newspaper and multi-platform digital news outlet serving Whatcom County, Washington, delivering print editions, website, mobile apps, and an eEdition to 57,000+ daily readers, monetized through subscriptions and advertising as a subsidiary of McClatchy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper / Digital News Publishing

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
• Digital news subscription
• Print home delivery
• Community journalism
• Newsletter publishing

Headquarters

HQ city

Bellingham

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

Revenue model

1. Digital Subscriptions: Monthly and annual digital subscription plans providing unlimited access to website content, eEdition, and mobile apps
2. Print Subscriptions: Home delivery of physical newspaper with circulation of 8,719 daily and 11,768 Sunday (2018 data)
3. Advertising: Local advertising solutions for businesses, including display ads, classifieds, and obituaries

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Bellingham Herald is a local newspaper and multi-platform news organization serving Whatcom County, Washington. It publishes a daily and Sunday print edition delivered to homes, operates the BellinghamHerald.com news website, offers a digital eEdition, and distributes content through native iPhone and Android mobile applications and a suite of curated email newsletters. Monetization centers on digital and print subscriptions sold directly to consumers, supplemented by local advertising, classifieds, obituaries, and sponsored content.

Product overview

The Bellingham Herald is a local newspaper serving Whatcom County, Washington, operating as a multi-platform news organization. The core product is the print newspaper combined with a digital subscription model. The product portfolio includes the print edition (daily and Sunday), the BellinghamHerald.com website, a digital eEdition for online reading, native iPhone and Android mobile applications, and an extensive newsletter suite. Additional offerings include games and puzzles (via Arkadium), obituary services (via Legacy.com), classified advertising, product reviews, and searchable public records databases. The digital subscription serves as the primary monetization vehicle, providing ad-free or ad-reduced access, exclusive content, and real-time breaking news alerts.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Digital Subscription Paid digital access providing unlimited story views, subscriber-only content, fewer ads, access to the eEdition, breaking news alerts, and newsletters for individual consumers in Whatcom County.
• Print Newspaper Subscription Traditional print edition delivered daily and on Sundays via home delivery throughout most of Whatcom County, for individual subscribers and households.
• eEdition

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• McClatchy Media NetworkcoreOthersParent company that owns The Bellingham Herald. McClatchy purchased The Bellingham Herald in June 2006 from Knight Ridder. The company provides syndicated content through McClatchy wires, shared advertising platform, and integrated newsletter offerings across the McClatchy network.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Tri-City Herald: McClatchy-owned daily serving the Tri-Cities region of Washington. Operates the same BellinghamHerald-style multi-platform subscription and advertising model for a comparable mid-size local market.
• The Miami Herald: McClatchy's largest daily and a regional anchor paper. Operates the same shared McClatchy digital subscription, eEdition, and advertising platform, though at metro scale.
• The Idaho Statesman: McClatchy-owned daily serving Boise and broader Idaho. Operates an identical multi-platform subscription and advertising model targeting a single regional market.
• The Kansas City Star: McClatchy-owned regional daily. Shares the same digital subscription, eEdition, and McClatchy wire content infrastructure as the Herald.
• The Olympian: Another McClatchy-owned local Washington state daily newspaper (Olympia). Same parent, same digital subscription stack, same local newspaper business model — the closest operational peer.
• The Sacramento Bee: McClatchy's flagship California daily. Same digital subscription and McClatchy platform infrastructure, scaled to a larger metro; a useful comparison for how the McClatchy model performs at greater size.
• The News Tribune (Tacoma): McClatchy-owned daily serving the Tacoma/Pierce County area of Washington. Shares the same McClatchy digital platform, subscription pricing structure, and eEdition offering as the Herald.

Regional players

• The Everett Herald: Independent local daily serving Snohomish County, Washington — geographically adjacent to the Herald's Whatcom County territory. Closest non-McClatchy regional comparable in terms of scale and local-news subscription model.
• Skagit Valley Herald: Local daily serving Skagit County, Washington, just south of Whatcom County. Comparable small-market local newspaper offering with print and digital subscriptions.

Broad incumbents

• USA TODAY / Gannett local network: Gannett operates USA TODAY plus a large network of local dailies (including the Daily Herald in Everett, WA) and competes with McClatchy titles for digital subscriptions and national/local ad budgets across the same U.S. local-news category.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/bhamherald
• YouTubeyoutube.com/bellinghamherald
• Facebookfacebook.com/bellinghamherald
• Instagraminstagram.com/bellinghamherald
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-bellingham-herald

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 The Bellingham Herald