Northwest Herald
Encyclopedia
The Northwest Herald is a daily newspaper
published in Crystal Lake
, Illinois
. The paper has a circulation of nearly 33,000 with a coverage area of McHenry County
and northern Kane County
in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago
.
The Herald is a part of Shaw Suburban Media and is owned by Shaw Newspapers. Shaw Suburban Media includes the Kane County Chronicle
, DeKalb Daily Chronicle, Lake County Journals, Weekly Journals, The Business Journal, Great Lakes Bulletin, El Conquistador
, and McHenryCountySports.com.
The Northwest Herald headquarters and new printing press also were built in 1986 in Crystal lake, allowing the Northwest Herald to publish in color almost from the start.
In 1989, the Northwest Herald added a Sunday edition and became McHenry County's first hometown, seven-day newspaper. It had a daily circulation of 29,688 and its new Sunday edition had 29,337 subscribers.
The paper was redesigned for the first time in 1992, with stock quotes added to the Business section and more space and sources for wire stories in the Front section. A Friday entertainment section in tabloid form named Sidetracks was added, as was a Saturday Neighbors section devoted entirely to readers' submissions.
Beginning in 1992, four different Northwest Herald front pages were printed each weekday. The practice, called zoning, ensured that readers would have the most local news product available to them on the front page of their paper. Zoning of the newspaper eventually would be expanded to seven editions in 2002, but was discontinued in February 2004.
After five years as a seven-day paper, the Northwest Herald won its first award for excellence from the Illinois Press Association in 1994.
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
published in Crystal Lake
Crystal Lake, Illinois
Crystal Lake is a city located in southeastern McHenry County in northeastern Illinois, in the Chicago suburbs. It is named after Crystal Lake, a lake located west-southwest of downtown. Crystal Lake is also a suburb of the city of Chicago. The population was 38,000 at the 2000 census, but as of...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. The paper has a circulation of nearly 33,000 with a coverage area of McHenry County
McHenry County, Illinois
McHenry County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 308,760, which is an increase of 18.7% from 260,077 in 2000. Its county seat is Woodstock. This county is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. It is the sixth largest county, in...
and northern Kane County
Kane County, Illinois
Kane County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 515,269, which is an increase of 27.5% from 404,119 in 2000. Its county seat is Geneva, and its largest city is Aurora.- Geography :...
in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
The Herald is a part of Shaw Suburban Media and is owned by Shaw Newspapers. Shaw Suburban Media includes the Kane County Chronicle
Kane County Chronicle
Kane County Chronicle is a daily newspaper serving Kane County, Illinois.-Market:The Kane County Chronicle serves central Kane County, located in the Fox Valley region of Illinois, about 40 miles west of Chicago.-History:...
, DeKalb Daily Chronicle, Lake County Journals, Weekly Journals, The Business Journal, Great Lakes Bulletin, El Conquistador
El Conquistador
El Conquistador is a weekly bilingual newspaper serving McHenry County, Lake County and DeKalb County, Illinois, United States.In addition to single-copy sales, El Conquistador is popular with schools, which use it as a learning aide because all articles are published in both English and Spanish.El...
, and McHenryCountySports.com.
History
In 1983, Shaw Newspapers doubled its newspaper holdings by acquiring the Cardunal Free Press and, by extension, every paper produced in McHenry County. In 1986, the company shuttered all of the small weeklies and dailies, some with more than 150 years of service in their communities, to create a new daily newspaper to serve all of McHenry County.The Northwest Herald headquarters and new printing press also were built in 1986 in Crystal lake, allowing the Northwest Herald to publish in color almost from the start.
In 1989, the Northwest Herald added a Sunday edition and became McHenry County's first hometown, seven-day newspaper. It had a daily circulation of 29,688 and its new Sunday edition had 29,337 subscribers.
The paper was redesigned for the first time in 1992, with stock quotes added to the Business section and more space and sources for wire stories in the Front section. A Friday entertainment section in tabloid form named Sidetracks was added, as was a Saturday Neighbors section devoted entirely to readers' submissions.
Beginning in 1992, four different Northwest Herald front pages were printed each weekday. The practice, called zoning, ensured that readers would have the most local news product available to them on the front page of their paper. Zoning of the newspaper eventually would be expanded to seven editions in 2002, but was discontinued in February 2004.
After five years as a seven-day paper, the Northwest Herald won its first award for excellence from the Illinois Press Association in 1994.