The Herald News

What The Herald News does

The Herald News is a digital-first local daily newspaper serving Fall River, Massachusetts and the surrounding SouthCoast region (including New Bedford, Somerset, Swansea, Westport, Dartmouth, and Mattapoisett in Bristol County). Founded in 1892, the publication produces local coverage across news, politics, sports, entertainment, lifestyle, real estate, and obituaries, with a dedicated O Jornal vertical covering the Portuguese-American community and events such as the Santo Christo Parish Feast Procession. It operates as a subsidiary within Gannett's USA Today Network and uses shared back-office publishing infrastructure rather than proprietary technology.

The business runs a multi-product local-media platform consisting of the heraldnews.com website, an eNewspaper digital replica, an Obituaries service with a daily-digest email, and a Public Notices/Legals section that captures Massachusetts-mandated legal publication. It integrates supplementary modules inherited from the Gannett network, including USA TODAY PLAY (puzzles, games, comics, horoscopes), Shopping/Deals content from USA TODAY Shopping, and AddressUSA-powered real estate listings that surface beyond the immediate market.

Revenue is generated through four streams: recurring digital and print subscriptions, advertising (display, paid search, and LocaliQ digital marketing solutions), classifieds and listings (obituaries, public notices, real estate), and content licensing/syndication across Gannett properties such as Standard-Times and Taunton Daily Gazette. GTM is direct-to-consumer via website, eNewspaper, and social channels (Facebook and X), with distribution amplified through USA Today Network cross-promotion.

Name

The Herald News

Legal name

The Herald News

Website

https://heraldnews.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1892

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Herald News is a digital-first local daily newspaper serving Fall River, Massachusetts and the surrounding SouthCoast region. Founded in 1892 and operating within Gannett's USA Today Network, it delivers hyperlocal news, sports, and community information via website, eNewspaper, and subscriptions.

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

Newsstand & Single-Copy Distribution (MPAJAKAC)

Keywords

• Local newspaper publishing
• Digital news subscription
• Community journalism
• Obituaries and public notices
• Local advertising solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Fall River

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Subscription Revenue: Digital subscriptions (eNewspaper, digital access) and print subscriptions for local readers seeking local news coverage in Fall River and SouthCoast Massachusetts communities.
2. Advertising: Display advertising, paid search/SEM services, and promotional content placements on the website and across the USA Today Network. LocaliQ Digital Marketing Solutions provides advertising services.
3. Classifieds and Listings: Revenue from classified advertisements, obituary placements, public notices, and real estate listings featured on the platform.
4. Licensing and Content Syndication: Content syndicated across the USA Today Network, with articles distributed to affiliated properties including Standard-Times, Taunton Daily Gazette, and other Gannett local news outlets.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Herald News is a seven-day daily local multi-media news organization that publishes hyperlocal journalism covering news, politics, sports, entertainment, lifestyle, real estate, obituaries, and public notices for Fall River, MA and surrounding SouthCoast Massachusetts communities. Distribution occurs through its website (heraldnews.com), an eNewspaper digital replica, email newsletters, social media, and syndicated placement across the Gannett/USA TODAY Network. Revenue is generated from reader subscriptions, display and classified advertising, obituary placement fees, public notice publication, and content licensing.

Product overview

The Herald News is a local newspaper publication serving Fall River, MA and the SouthCoast region. The primary product is its news website offering comprehensive local coverage across News, Sports, Entertainment, Lifestyle, and Real Estate categories. Core offerings include the main digital news platform, eNewspaper (digital replica of the print edition), Obituaries service, and Public Notices/Legals section. The publication also integrates supplementary features including USA TODAY PLAY (puzzles, games, comics), Shopping/Deals, and Real Estate Listings powered by AddressUSA. The publication is part of the Gannett/USA TODAY Network.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Herald News Website Digital news website (heraldnews.com) providing local news, politics, sports, entertainment, lifestyle, real estate, and obituaries coverage for Fall River, MA and surrounding SouthCoast Massachusetts communities.
• eNewspaper Digital replica of the print newspaper accessible through the user.heraldnews.com subscriber portal, allowing subscribers to read the full newspaper edition online.
• Obituaries Online obituary listings and submission service for deceased individuals, including funeral home partnerships and paid obituary placement options for loved ones and funeral directors, supported by an Obituaries Daily Digest email newsletter.
• Public Notices / Legals Platform for publishing and viewing legal notices including trust citations, probate notices, mortgagee's sales, divorce summons, and municipal public notices across Massachusetts.
• Real Estate Listings Property search functionality integrated with AddressUSA providing home listings, featured properties, and agent profiles for the Fall River area and broader region.
• Shopping / Deals Curated shopping deals and product recommendations integrated from the USA TODAY Shopping network.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Gannett/USA Today NetworkcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerThe Herald News is part of the Gannett media conglomerate and USA Today Network. This partnership provides content syndication across network properties, shared technology infrastructure, advertising sales support through LocaliQ, and brand association with national USA Today brand.
• AddressUSAminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAddressUSA provides real estate listing services and featured property listings on The Herald News real estate section. The partnership includes featured agents and property listings across regional markets including Naples FL, San Diego CA, and other locations beyond local coverage area.
• LocaliQ Digital Marketing SolutionscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerLocaliQ is Gannett's digital marketing solutions platform that provides advertising services for The Herald News, enabling local businesses to purchase digital advertising through the local publication network.
• FacebookminorGTM or Marketing PartnerFacebook is used as a social media distribution channel for The Herald News content, with an official page 'TheHeraldNewsFallRiver' for audience engagement and content sharing.
• X (formerly Twitter)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerX (Twitter) is used as a social media distribution channel for The Herald News content, with an official account @HNNow for audience engagement and content sharing.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Patch.com: Digital-first hyperlocal news network operating town- and zip-level sites across Massachusetts, including Fall River and SouthCoast communities. Represents the structural substitute for classifieds/obituaries/community news and the primary digital competitive threat to subscriber acquisition.

Regional players

• New Haven Register: Hearst-owned daily in southern Connecticut. Operates a similar subscription + advertising + classifieds model in a comparable mid-sized New England city market but does not directly compete in The Herald News's territory.
• The Providence Journal: Gannett-owned daily in neighboring Rhode Island. Comparable business model and editorial scale but operates in a different state/market; useful for benchmarking cross-state regional competition for SouthCoast readers and advertisers.

Direct peers

• Cape Cod Times: Gannett/USA Today Network daily serving Cape Cod. Comparable scale, same operating model, similar reliance on tourism-driven display advertising and public notices — a useful benchmark for digital migration and subscription economics.
• The Enterprise (Brockton, MA): Gannett local daily covering Brockton and the South Shore of Massachusetts. Same USA Today Network infrastructure, similar hyperlocal product mix, and overlapping demographic profile with The Herald News.
• Taunton Daily Gazette: Another Gannett-owned Massachusetts daily serving a nearby small-city market. Mirrors The Herald News's product mix (eNewspaper, obituaries, public notices, LocaliQ-driven advertising) and faces the same secular and competitive dynamics.
• The Standard-Times (New Bedford, MA): Gannett/USA Today Network sister paper serving adjacent SouthCoast Massachusetts. Same parent, same revenue model (subscription + advertising + classifieds + syndication), near-identical audience profile, making it the most direct operational and editorial comparable.
• The Sun Chronicle (Attleboro, MA): Local daily covering the Attleboro/North Bristol County area adjacent to The Herald News's territory. Same Gannett ownership lineage, similar size band, and directly comparable hyperlocal news + public notices business model.
• Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, MA): Gannett-owned daily in central Massachusetts. Directly comparable on business model, distribution mix, and revenue diversification (subscription, LocaliQ, classifieds), though serving a larger market. Useful peer for benchmarking Gannett's Massachusetts portfolio.

Broad incumbents

• BostonGlobe Media / The Boston Globe: Larger regional incumbent covering Greater Boston and eastern Massachusetts, including parts of The Herald News's reach. Provides overlapping state/political/sports coverage but does not specialize in Fall River/SouthCoast hyperlocal content; competes for higher-tier advertisers and subscribers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HNNow
• Facebookfacebook.com/HNNow

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 News