The Durango Herald
The Durango Herald is the daily newspaper serving Durango, Colorado. Started in 1881, The Herald serves La Plata County and the Four Corners area in the Southwest United States.
The paper is one of the few remaining family-owned daily newspapers in the United States.
History
The Herald began publishing June 30, 1881, with father-son team Jerome L. Marsh and George Marsh. The paper cost 10 cents a day, or $3 for a yearly subscription.
A competing paper, The Record, merged with the Herald in 1883. The Record was founded Dec. 29, 1880, by Caroline Romney, a widow who wrote, edited and published the paper from a tent. She was a reform-minded woman. She wrote, “The best way for women to pursue, in business enterprises at least, is not to wait for men to accord them their rights, but to go ahead and take them. Such women have so much practical work to do, that, as a rule, they haven’t much time to talk women’s rights. They do what is better – they act them.”
In 1928, The Herald merged with the Durango Democrat and published under the name the Herald-Democrat. The Democrat and the Herald had a tumultuous past. Founded in 1892 by Dave Day, the Democrat was later run by Day’s son, Rod Day. Rod Day shot and killed the Herald’s city editor, William L. Wood, in 1922. Both men printed articles in their papers charging each other of alcoholism and dishonesty. It was later decided that Wood had been stalking Day with the intent to kill him, and Day was found not guilty. In 1930, Day started the Durango News, a weekly newspaper.
In 1952, Arthur and Morley Ballantine purchased the Herald-Democrat and the Durango News, merging the two into the Herald-News.[1]
In 1960, the name was changed to the Durango Herald.
Arthur Ballantine Jr. was co-editor and co-publisher of the paper from 1952 until 1975. His wife, Morley, was also co-editor and co-publisher and took over as chairman and editor after Arthur’s death. She served as editor until her death in 2009. Her son Richard Ballantine took over the role of publisher in 1980. He retired in 2013, and Douglas Bennett was installed as CEO of Ballantine Communications Inc., the Herald’s parent company.
Clean water
Shortly after purchasing the Herald-News in the early 1950s, the Ballantines became entrenched in a battle to procure safe drinking water for the area by campaigning for a new water system, filtration plant and a covered reservoir. They lost $10,000 in advertising revenue, but were able to improve the water system for the area. Water issues turned the national spotlight on the Durango area in 2015, when the Gold King Mine, north of Silverton, spilled 3 million gallons of waste into the Animas River, turning the iconic landmark yellow with mine runoff.[2]
Circulation
The Durango Herald has a circulation of 6,200 daily and 7,000 on Sundays.
Publishers
June 30, 1881, with father-son team Jerome L. Marsh and George Marsh, his son. April 1, 1887 C. Sam Nichols (very short time) 1887-1916 George and Solomon Raymond 1916 – 1942 Bessie and John Henry McDevitt 1942 – August 1945 Walter and Doris Wilson August 1945 – 1948 Harold “Prexy” Anderson and Alton Dorsett June 1, 1952 – 1975 Arthur and Morley Ballantine 1975 – 1980 Morley Ballantine 1980 – 2013 Richard Ballantine 2013- present Douglas Bennett, CEO Ballantine Communications Inc.
Awards
The Herald has won numerous awards, given by entities such as the Society of Professional Journalists, the Colorado Associated Press Reporters and Editors, and the Colorado Press Association.
In 2002, the Herald received the Sigma Chi Award for Excellence in Journalism for public service.
Ballantine Family Fund
The Ballantine Family Fund was established in 1957 by Morley C. Ballantine and her husband, Arthur A. Ballantine Jr., to provide financial assistance to nonprofits in Southwest Colorado.
Board members
Richard G. Ballantine
Janice Y. Burnham
Helen Ballantine Healy
Elizabeth Ballantine
Douglas Bennett
Wayne Roth
William C. Leavitt
Morley Healy Stalnaker
Christopher Ballantine
References
External links
See also List of Colorado newspapers Ballantine