Pennsylvania’s smallest daily finds success with happy news

Just about everything in Tyrone, a town of 5,700 in Blair County, 215 miles west of Philadelphia, seems to be a throwback, including its bustling downtown, home to a beloved candy shop, a few antiques stores, and its 152-year-old newspaper, Daily Herald. With a staff of about a half-dozen, including one very busy intern, the paper is Pennsylvania’s smallest daily, circulation approximately 1,700. It sends a writer, sometimes two, to every council and school board meeting in the communities it covers.

Subscription growth for Daily Herald is always a challenge. The paper, which dates back to 1867, sells on the street for 75 cents. On Saturdays, a free copy is mailed to every non-subscriber in northern Blair County, bumping circulation to nearly 8,000. Daily Herald is owned by the Sample News Group, a Pennsylvania-based media company that’s now in five states, strategically buying up smaller daily newspapers, mailers, and weeklies in the Northeast.