View source for Lexington Herald-Leader

{{Short description|Newspaper based in Lexington, Kentucky}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox newspaper
| name               = Lexington Herald-Leader
| image              = [[File:Lexington Herald-Leader front page.jpg|220px|border]]
| caption            = The June 1, 2012 front page of the<br />''Lexington Herald-Leader''
| type               = Daily [[newspaper]]<br>(Wednesday, Friday, Sundy print distribution)
| format             = [[Broadsheet]]
| founded            = {{Start date and age|1870}}<br /><small>(as the ''Lexington Daily Press'')</small>
| ceased_publication =
| owners             = [[The McClatchy Company]]<ref name=McClatchy>{{cite web |url=http://www.mcclatchy.com/our-impact/markets |title=Our Markets |publisher=McClatchy Company |location=Sacramento, California |access-date= March 26, 2017 }}</ref>
| editor             = Richard Green
| staff_writers      = 143
| circulation        = 34,888 Daily<br />68,545 Sunday
| circulation_date   = 2017
| circulation_ref    = <ref name="McClatchy {{!}} Markets">{{Cite web |date=2018-11-26 |title=McClatchy {{!}} Markets |url=https://www.mcclatchy.com/our-impact/markets/lexington-herald-leader |access-date=2023-04-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126044330/https://www.mcclatchy.com/our-impact/markets/lexington-herald-leader |archive-date=November 26, 2018 }}</ref>
| headquarters       = 100 Midland Avenue<br />[[Lexington, Kentucky]] 40508<br />[[United States]]
| ISSN               = 0745-4260
| website            = {{URL|kentucky.com}} 
}}
The '''''Lexington Herald-Leader''''' <ref name="McClatchy {{!}} Markets">{{Cite web |date=2018-11-26 |title=McClatchy {{!}} Markets |url=https://www.mcclatchy.com/our-impact/markets/lexington-herald-leader |access-date=2023-04-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126044330/https://www.mcclatchy.com/our-impact/markets/lexington-herald-leader |archive-date=November 26, 2018 }}</ref> is a [[newspaper]] owned by the [[McClatchy Company]] and based in [[Lexington, Kentucky]]. According to the ''1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook'', the paid circulation of the ''Herald-Leader'' is the second largest in the Commonwealth of [[Kentucky]].

The newspaper has won the 1986 [[Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting]], the 1992 [[Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing]], and the 2000 [[Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning]].<ref name="MCCO">{{cite web | title = Lexington Herald-Leader | publisher = [[The McClatchy Company]] | url=http://www.mcclatchy.com/146/story/357.html | access-date = May 21, 2007 }}</ref> It had also been a finalist in six other Pulitzer awards in the 22-year period up until its sale in 2006, a record that was unsurpassed by any mid-sized newspaper in the United States during the same time frame.<ref name="HL_062706">{{cite news | last = Kelly | first=Tim | title = Knight Ridder contributed to journalism, community | page = A13 | work = Lexington Herald-Leader | date = June 27, 2006}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Lexington Herald Building.jpg|thumb|left|Former offices on Walnut Street]]

The ''Herald-Leader'' was created by a 1983 merger of the '''''Lexington Herald''''' and the '''''Lexington Leader'''''. The story of the ''Herald'' begins in 1870 with a paper known as the ''Lexington Daily Press''. In 1895, a descendant of that paper was first published as the ''Morning Herald'', later to be renamed the ''Lexington Herald'' in 1905. Meanwhile, in 1888 a group of Fayette County [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] began publication of a competing afternoon paper named the ''Kentucky Leader'', which became known as the ''Lexington Leader'' in 1901.<ref name="HL_COL">{{cite web |last=Carter |first=Lisa |title=John C. Wyatt Lexington Herald-Leader Collection |url=http://www.uky.edu/Libraries/libpage.php?lweb_id=401&llib_id=13&ltab_rank=2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061207182143/http://www.uky.edu/Libraries/libpage.php?lweb_id=401&llib_id=13&ltab_rank=2 |archive-date=December 7, 2006 |access-date=March 2, 2007}}</ref>

In 1937, the owner of the ''Leader'', John Stoll, purchased the ''Herald''.<ref name="HL_COL"/> The papers continued as independent entities for 46 years.  Despite the common ownership, the two papers had different editorial stances; the ''Herald'' was moderately liberal while the ''Leader'' was conservative. The two newspapers published a combined Sunday edition. In 1973, both were purchased by ''Knight Newspapers'', which merged with ''Ridder Publications'' to form [[Knight Ridder]] the following year.<ref name="HL_062706"/> A decade later, in 1983, the ''Herald'' and ''Leader'' merged to form today's ''Lexington Herald-Leader''.<ref name="MCCO"/>  In 1985, publisher [[Creed Black]] allowed reporters to publish a series of articles which exposed widespread corruption within the [[University of Kentucky]]'s [[Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball|Wildcats men's basketball team]].<ref name=nytimes>{{cite news|first=Douglas|last=Martin|title=Creed C. Black, Newspaper Executive, Dies at 86 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/18/business/media/creed-c-black-newspaper-executive-dies-at-86.html?ref=obituaries |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 17, 2011|access-date=August 21, 2011}}</ref> From 1979 to 1991, the paper was edited by [[John Carroll (journalist)|John Carroll]], who went on to edit ''[[The Baltimore Sun]]'' and the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''.

On July 11, 2001, the paper reduced four positions due to declining advertising revenue and higher newsprint costs.<ref name="HL_071201">{{cite news | title = Veteran Herald-Leader columnists take early retirement | page = B1 | work = Lexington Herald-Leader | date = July 12, 2001}}</ref> Long-time columnists Don Edwards and Dick Burdette took voluntary early retirements but are still published occasionally as contributing writers. The job eliminations were a cumulation of efforts that started in May when the workforce was reduced by 15 positions.<ref name="HL_071201"/>

On July 4, 2004, the newspaper, in an effort to apologize for failing to cover the [[civil rights movement]], published a front-page package of stories and archive photos documenting Lexingtonians involved in the movement.<ref>{{cite news |title=Front-page news, back page coverage |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/lexington-herald-leader-front-page-news/182422407/ |access-date=October 5, 2025 |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=July 4, 2004 |location=Lexington, Kentucky |pages=A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/lexington-herald-leader-dramatic-stories/182423815/ A8], [https://www.newspapers.com/article/lexington-herald-leader-dramatic-stories/182423834/ A9], [https://www.newspapers.com/article/lexington-herald-leader-of-the-people-b/182423866/ A10] |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The stories, written by Linda B. Blackford and Linda Minch, received international attention, including a story on the front page of ''[[The New York Times]]''. It also received an annual professional award by the Kentucky chapter of the [[Special Libraries Association]].

On June 27, 2006, the [[The McClatchy Company|McClatchy Company]] purchased [[Knight Ridder]] for approximately $4 billion in cash and stock.<ref>{{cite news | last=Sloan | first=Scott | title=Herald-Leader Joining McClatchy |work=Lexington Herald-Leader | url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LH&s_site=kentucky&p_multi=LH&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=11289DD8D9669040&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM | date =June 27, 2006 | access-date=May 21, 2007}}</ref> It also assumed  Knight Ridder debt of $2 billion. McClatchy sold 12 Knight Ridder papers, but the ''Herald-Leader'' was one of 20 retained.
[[File:Lexington_Herald-Leader_Loudon_Avenue_Office.jpg|thumb|The office of the Lexington Herald-Leader on Loudon Avenue in Lexington, Kentucky.]]

==Office and production plant==
The ''Herald-Leader''{{'}}s new office and production plant facility was completed in September 1980 at a cost of $23 million.<ref>Mastiff, Bruce. "Outward Bound – Landlocked Lexington Survives and Grows." Kentucky Monthly 2.3 (1981)."</ref> It was a {{convert|158990|sqft|m2}} structure that featured 14 Goss Metro offset presses that had the capacity to produce 600,000 newspapers in a typical week.

The plant is on a {{convert|6|acre|m2|adj=on}} lot at the corner of East Main Street and Midland. The $23 million cost was divided into $7,804,000 for architecture, $750,000 for interiors and $8,500,000 for production equipment and presses.

In June 2016, it was announced that the ''Herald-Leader'' would cease its printing operations in Lexington, contracting them out to [[Gannett]] from the Louisville facilities for the ''[[Courier Journal]]''. As a result of the move, 25 full-time and 4 part-time employees would be laid-off. It was also announced that the plant would be put up for sale, with the Fayette County property valuation administrator assessing the property at $6.84 million for tax purposes. The first issue of the Louisville-printed ''Herald-Leader'' published on August 1, 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kentucky.com/news/business/article86242352.html|title=Lexington Herald-Leader to be printed in Louisville, will put downtown building on market|work=Lexington Herald-Leader|date=June 27, 2016|access-date=July 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160628145120/http://www.kentucky.com/news/business/article86242352.html|archive-date=June 28, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The last issue of the Lexington Herald-Leader to be printed in Lexington was printed on July 31, 2016. It marked the end of 229 years of newspaper printing in Lexington.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.kentucky.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/tom-eblen/article92858477.html|title=Presses roll final time as newspaper printing moves to Louisville|date=July 30, 2016|access-date=August 1, 2016|work=Lexington Herald-Leader|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801131405/http://www.kentucky.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/tom-eblen/article92858477.html|archive-date=August 1, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> In turn, the Louisville facility was shut down in 2021 as part of Gannett's own consolidation of its printing facilities, and like the ''Courier Journal'', the paper is now printed out-of-state in Tennessee from the ''[[Knoxville News Sentinel]]''{{'}}s facility, meaning that stories and sports scores occurring in the early evening are not within the print edition.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.whas11.com/article/news/local/courier-journal-printing-facility-louisville-closes/417-7b9e5402-b07e-450c-ac0e-63c593bb6abd|title=More than 100 lose jobs as Courier Journal moves printing out of Louisville|last=Fountaine|first=Heather|date=7 January 2021|publisher=[[WHAS-TV]]|access-date=19 December 2024}}</ref>

The Herald-Leader building has been proposed as a new city hall for the [[Lexington, Kentucky|Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/counties/fayette-county/article212601689.html|title=Committee selects Herald-Leader building for new city hall. What the plan includes.|work=kentucky|access-date=2018-07-13|language=en}}</ref> Remaining staff will be relocated to a smaller office space upon the sale of the building.

On August 5, 2024, the print edition was reduced to being printed on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, with carrier delivery being discontinued for mail delivery exclusively.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.kentucky.com/news/from-the-editor/article288875856.html|title=Herald-Leader to change print publication days, delivery method in next step of digital push|last=Green|first=Richard|date=31 May 2024|work=Lexington Herald-Leader|access-date=19 December 2024}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|United States|Journalism}}
* ''[[The Courier-Journal]]'' – Kentucky's largest newspaper
* [[Lexington Herald Building]]
* [[List of newspapers in Kentucky]]
{{clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [http://www.kentucky.com/ ''Lexington Herald-Leader'' official site]
* [http://m.kentucky.com ''Lexington Herald-Leader'' mobile site]
* [http://www.mcclatchy.com/146/story/357.html The McClatchy Company's subsidiary profile of the ''Lexington Herald-Leader'']
*[https://lhlphotoarchive.org/ John C. Wyatt Lexington Herald-Leader photographs collection], University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center
*[https://exploreuk.uky.edu/fa/findingaid/?id=xt734t6f3d29 James Edwin Weddle photographic collection], University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center

{{McClatchy}}

[[Category:Newspapers published in Kentucky]]
[[Category:McClatchy publications]]
[[Category:Mass media in Lexington, Kentucky]]
[[Category:Newspapers established in 1870]]
[[Category:1870 establishments in Kentucky]]