Sports Writer, Durham, N.C.

I would imagine all the papers in the Triangle are pretty much competitors? The Raleigh N&O is the big dog on the block. ... It circulates in the southern part of the state, so I'd imagine it's sold in Durham...

 

Even in better times for the Durham paper, the News and Observer's circulation was much higher. Yes, the N&O's circulation area includes virtually all of the Herald-Sun's circulation area. In addition, the N&O has a weekly Saturday section called the Durham News. The Herald-Sun does beat the N&O badly on Herald-Sun Golf Classic coverage, though.

 

100,000 comes to mind but I could be wrong.

 

It peaked out at 65,000 at the most, and that was years ago when the Durham Morning Herald and the Durham Sun (the afternoon paper) merged. Probably closer to 52,000.

 

I checked with someone who used to live there in the 1970s. He said he thought about 70k -80k.

 

It's only been The Herald-Sun since the morning and afternoon papers merged in 1991. In the 1970s, I guess it's possible that the Durham Morning Herald and the Durham Sun may have combined for that figure.

 

Who cares about the circulation in the 1970s? That irrelevant info predates Coack K's arrival to Durham, and offers no insight to the paper's current implosion.

 

I can't say for certain, but I'm pretty sure that when I lived in Durham five years ago the circulation was about double what it is now.

 

Don't know about peak, but when the Herald was bought by Paxton at the end of '04, its daily circulation was 50K and Sunday was 55K. I doubt it was ever much higher than that.

I had a lot of friends who were laid off during the early bloodletting and as a result, I refuse to subscribe, even though I'm a Durham resident and the N&O has cut its Durham coverage so steeply that I consider it non-existent.

Can't offer any insight into the job though.

 

As I've said before, Paxton has a midas touch. They take over papers and circulation drops dramatically. And this was before the big economic meltdown. It's a business model that's a real head scratcher.

 

Hey, less circulation = fewer papers to print = less newsprint cost. Bingo!! The Paxton model. (They're not alone, either.)