History
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 Republicans began publication of a competing paper named the Kentucky Leader, which became known as the Lexington Leader in 1901.
In 1937, the owner of the Leader, John Stoll, purchased the Herald. The papers continued as independent entities for several more years; the Herald published a liberal morning paper while the Leader printed a more conservative afternoon edition. The two newspapers had a combined Sunday publication. In 1973, both were purchased by Knight Newspapers, which merged with Ridder Publications to form Knight Ridder the following year. A decade later, in 1983, the Herald and Leader weekday papers merged to form today's Lexington Herald-Leader. In 1985, publisher Creed Black allowed reporters to publish a series of articles which exposed widespread corruption within the University of Kentucky's Wildcats men's basketball team. From 1979 to 1991, the paper was edited by 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. 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.
On July 4, 2004, the newspaper, in an effort to apologize for failing to cover the 1960s American Civil Rights Movement, published a front-page package of stories and archive photos documenting Lexingtonians involved in the movement. 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 was also received an annual professional award by the Kentucky chapter of the Special Libraries Association.
On June 27, 2006, the McClatchy Company purchased Knight Ridder for approximately $4 billion in cash and stock on June 27, 2006. It also assumed Knight Ridder debt of $2 billion. McClatchy sold 12 Knight Ridder papers, but the Herald-Leader was one of 20 retained.
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