East Hampton Star
East Hampton Star is a privately held, family-stewarded independent newspaper (founded 1885) serving East Hampton Town and surrounding Long Island South Fork communities, with print and digital editions, East Magazine, a Summer Academy for high school journalists, a branded merchandise store, and a classifieds platform.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1996
- HeadquartersEast Hampton, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What East Hampton Star does
The East Hampton Star is a privately-held, independent local newspaper serving East Hampton Town and the surrounding South Fork communities of Long Island — including Montauk, Sag Harbor, Springs, Amagansett, Bridgehampton, Wainscott, Water Mill, and North Haven — as well as Manhattan-delivered subscribers. Founded in 1885 and operated continuously through multi-generational family stewardship (David Rattray is the fifth Rattray to hold the editorship), the publication covers local government, police and courts, villages, business, arts, sports, food, education, and opinion. It is distributed via a paid website with digital subscriptions, a print edition, and a subscription email-alert system; the homepage carries a prominent "Donate" call-to-action indicating solicitation of reader philanthropy alongside commercial revenue. The company is privately held with no parent, subsidiary, or external investor ownership disclosed in available source materials.
Beyond the core newspaper, the company operates a portfolio of complementary products under the same brand. East Magazine (east-magazine.com) is a lifestyle and culture companion publication led by Bess Rattray. The Summer Academy is a two-week journalism workshop for high school students (grades 9-12) charging $2,275 per session with ten seats per session. The Star Store (Shopify-based) sells branded hats, calendars, and posters as direct-to-consumer merchandise. An online classifieds platform captures local advertising for jobs, real estate, and services. Marketing and audience engagement are conducted through Facebook, Instagram, X/Twitter, and Bluesky, alongside content marketing on the publication's own site.
The revenue model is multi-stream: consumer subscriptions (print and digital, including Manhattan delivery), display and classified advertising, e-commerce merchandise sales, Summer Academy tuition, and reader donations. The company runs 51-100 employees under the editorial direction of David Rattray and deputy managing editor Christine Sampson. No AI/ML technology, public listing, funding events, or M&A activity are disclosed in the source data.
East Hampton Star firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- East Hampton Star
- Legal name
- The East Hampton Star
- Website
- https://easthamptonstar.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1996
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- East Hampton Star is a privately held, family-stewarded independent newspaper (founded 1885) serving East Hampton Town and surrounding Long Island South Fork communities, with print and digital editions, East Magazine, a Summer Academy for high school journalists, a branded merchandise store, and a classifieds platform.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
East Hampton Star industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Local Newspaper Publishing
- NAICS
- Newspaper Publishers (51311), Periodical Publishers (51312), Newspaper Publishers (513110)
- SIC
- Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital) (MPAJADAB)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Travel & Outdoors Magazines (MPAJAEAH)
Keywords
Where East Hampton Star is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- East Hampton
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
East Hampton Star business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Summer Academy journalism program |
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels5 records
East Hampton Star product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The East Hampton Star publishes a print and digital local newspaper covering news, government, police and courts, villages, business, arts, food, sports, opinion, letters, education, obituaries, and community events for East Hampton and the surrounding South Fork Hamptons communities on Long Island. It sells paid subscriptions, online classified advertising, and reader donations, and operates complementary products including a lifestyle magazine, a journalism summer academy for high school students, an email alert service, and a branded merchandise store.
Product overview
The East Hampton Star is a traditional independent newspaper serving the East Hampton community on Long Island. The core offering is the print and digital newspaper delivering local news coverage across categories including government, police & courts, business, arts, food, sports, education, and obituaries. The company also operates supplementary products including East Magazine (a lifestyle publication), the Summer Academy (a journalism education program for students), email alert subscriptions, an online Star Store selling branded merchandise, and a classified advertising platform. The portfolio represents a unified local media operation with both core news products and community-focused supplementary services.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- East Magazine: A magazine publication operated by The East Hampton Star, featuring lifestyle and cultural content for the Hamptons region.
- The Star Store
Products and services
- The East Hampton Star Newspaper The primary print and digital newspaper serving East Hampton, Long Island, covering local news, government, arts, sports, police and courts, and community events for residents and seasonal visitors.
- Summer Academy A tuition-based two-week journalism workshop for high school students (grades 9–12) teaching reporting, writing, editing, and multimedia skills through hands-on experience with working journalists.
- East Magazine A lifestyle magazine companion to the newspaper covering arts, culture, and community features from the Hamptons region.
- Email Alerts A subscription-based news alert service delivering breaking news and updates via email to subscribers.
- The Star Store An online merchandise store selling branded items including hats, calendars, and posters.
- Classifieds An online classified advertising platform for jobs, real estate, and services in the East Hampton area.
Companies that use East Hampton Star
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles2 records
East Hampton Star technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
East Hampton Star partnerships and signals
Strategic signalRecent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
East Hampton Star competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Patch: Patch operates hyperlocal digital news sites across the Hamptons (East Hampton, Southampton, Sag Harbor) and competes directly for digital local-news readership and small-business advertising spend.
- Behind The Hedges: Behind The Hedges is a Hamptons-focused real estate and lifestyle publication covering the same high-net-worth audience; partially overlapping as a niche lifestyle/classifieds play rather than a full general-news competitor.
Direct peers
- Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror: The Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror is a peer community newspaper on Nantucket covering local government, arts, and seasonal news for a similarly affluent island/summer market.
- Sag Harbor Express: Sag Harbor Express is another weekly covering the same eastern Long Island Hamptons market as the Star, with overlapping government, police, and arts coverage of Sag Harbor and surrounding villages.
- Vineyard Gazette: The Vineyard Gazette is an independent, family/community-owned weekly on Martha's Vineyard with a comparable business model of local news, lifestyle, classifieds, and real estate serving an affluent seasonal community.
- Dan's Papers: Dan's Papers is a long-running Hamptons-focused local publication with a similar mix of local news, arts, events, and lifestyle content, and historically one of the Star's closest competitors in the East End market.
- Southampton Press: The Southampton Press is the most direct local competitor to the East Hampton Star, covering the adjacent Hamptons towns with very similar local-news, government, arts, and lifestyle coverage targeting the same affluent South Fork audience.
Regional players
- Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod Times is a Gannett-owned regional daily serving a comparable affluent seasonal coastal community on Cape Cod; useful as a regional benchmark for staffing and ad-base scale, though it is larger and publicly owned.
Broad incumbents
- Newsday: Newsday is the dominant Long Island regional daily that broadly covers the Hamptons and competes for both readership and digital advertising against local papers like the Star, though at a much larger scale.
- The New York Times Local Reporting: The New York Times has expanded local Long Island and East End coverage and competes for the same high-end Hamptons reader and luxury advertiser that the Star serves, though as part of a national publication.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks1 record
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
East Hampton Star social profiles
Digital presenceEast Hampton Star financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
East Hampton Star leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
East Hampton Star funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
East Hampton Star M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about East Hampton Star
What does East Hampton Star do?
The East Hampton Star publishes a print and digital local newspaper covering news, government, police and courts, villages, business, arts, food, sports, opinion, letters, education, obituaries, and community events for East Hampton and the surrounding South Fork Hamptons communities on Long Island. It sells paid subscriptions, online classified advertising, and reader donations, and operates complementary products including a lifestyle magazine, a journalism summer academy for high school students, an email alert service, and a branded merchandise store.
Is East Hampton Star a public or private company?
East Hampton Star is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was East Hampton Star founded?
East Hampton Star was founded in 1996. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is East Hampton Star based?
East Hampton Star is headquartered in East Hampton, United States, in the North America region.
Who are East Hampton Star's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Patch and Behind The Hedges. Direct peers are Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror, Sag Harbor Express, Vineyard Gazette, Dan's Papers and Southampton Press. Cape Cod Times is listed as a regional player. Broad incumbents are Newsday and The New York Times Local Reporting.
Does East Hampton Star have an API?
No public API is recorded for East Hampton Star.
What industry is East Hampton Star in?
East Hampton Star's product category is Local Newspaper Publishing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAJADAB, Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital), with a secondary code of MPAJAEAH, Travel & Outdoors Magazines. Its NAICS code is 51311 and its SIC code is 2711.