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The marquee above the Daily Herald office in the Provo Towne Centre mall is photographed on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023.

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald

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The marquee above the Daily Herald office in Provo's Wells Fargo building is shown in this undated photo. The Daily Herald moved from the Wells Fargo building to the Provo Towne Centre mall in December 2021.

Daily Herald file photo

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The Daily Herald is photographed on the Provo Towne Centre directory on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023.

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald

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The Daily Herald office in the Provo Towne Centre mall is photographed on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023.

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald

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It is not often a newspaper, or any business for that matter, can celebrate 150 years of consecutive service to its community, but now the Daily Herald can.

“Through all the diversity that newspapers have gone through over the past years, the Daily Herald has continued to cover the news of Provo and Utah County with professionalism and with great effort to keep our communities informed and entertained. We are proud, after 150 years, to still be a part of this thriving community,” said Jim Konig, publisher.

The paper, then known as the Daily Times, was first published Aug. 1, 1873, and was the first paper in Provo, a part of the Utah Territory. For perspective, the Daily Herald started printing just about three years before Custer’s Last Stand and two years before the Brigham Young Academy opened.

The Daily Times was founded by R. G. Sleater, Robert T. McEwan, Oscar F. Lyons and Joseph T. McEwan. The Daily Herald is the second-oldest business still running in Provo; only Berg Mortuary is older.

The publication went through a variety of names through the end of the 1800s and early 1900s. It became the Daily Herald when James G. Scripps, eldest son of newspaper magnate E.W. Scripps, purchased it in 1926. Scripps held ownership until 1996 when it was purchased by Pulitzer. In 2005, it was purchased by Lee Enterprises and it was then sold in 2016 to current owner Ogden Newspapers Inc. based in Wheeling, West Virginia.

“The Daily Herald plays a vital role as ‘Provo’s Pulse,’ with award-winning local journalism that has strengthened our community for 150 years,” said Provo Mayor Michelle Kaufusi. “With newspapers in national decline, many cities face a ‘news desert’ for local news coverage. We’re thankful that the Daily Herald continues to stand the test of time by being a reputable, reliable and respected source of local news.”

According to the “Utah History Encyclopedia, “As Utah’s journalistic institutions moved through the twentieth century, they reflected national trends. Daily newspapers perished or consolidated, and both dailies and weeklies affiliated with publishing groups.”

Now the Daily Herald and its sister paper the Standard-Examiner in Ogden, also owned by Ogden Newspapers, are the only papers along the Wasatch Front that print six days a week as well as offering online reading options.

“The Daily Herald team is as dedicated as ever in our mission to provide quality journalism and portray all aspects of lives in Utah County moving into the future,” said Harrison Epstein, Herald community editor. “It’s an incredible legacy and we seek to serve the current and future population of the valley.”

From 1873 to today, the Daily Herald has covered pioneering growth in Utah Valley, World Wars, the Great Depression, the space age, entertainment and societ,y even baby births, marriages and, of course, Brigham Young University winning the 1984 national football championship.

BYU has been a highlight of the Herald’s sports coverage as well as local high school athletics, Utah Valley University and more.

The University of Utah’s J. Willard Marriott Library has digitized 100 years of editions of the Provo Herald — known today as the Daily Herald — from 1909 to 2009 and made the archive available online and free to the public at https://digitalnewspapers.org.

Bill Hulterstrom, CEO and president of the United Way of Utah County, admits he reads and subscribes to several newspapers but has always had a subscription to the Daily Herald. He says the reason why is, “The Herald continues to report on the heart and soul of our community. I wish the paper a very happy anniversary.”

Former Herald reporter Clark Caras said he and his roommate Doug Wilks were both studying journalism at BYU. He walked into the Herald offices for a job the day the Thistle landslide started in 1983. Editor Robert McDougal heard he was from Spanish Fork and Caras was a shoe in.

“He put a reporter’s notebook in my hand and I had a full-time job thanks to the Thistle slide,” Caras said.

Wilks said he also got a job at the Herald because of the floods of 1983. After four years at the Herald, the Scripps League sent him to northern California. He is now the executive editor of the Deseret News.

There have been hundreds of reporters and thousands of paper carriers and advertisers who have kept the Herald’s services going over the decades.

“For 150 years, the Daily Herald has been the steadfast megaphone celebrating Utah Valley’s families, schools and businesses through award-winning storytelling and photojournalism. The evolution of news gathering has brought innovative ways of sharing the wonderful life of Utah Valley,” said Rona Rahlf, former publisher. “The online edition, www.heraldextra.com, continues to connect thousands of daily readers not only in Utah County, but all around the world! The Daily Herald is a genuine treasure in a world of relentless change that will continue to serve its community long into the future.”

Also wishing the paper a happy anniversary was Bob Williams, former publisher from 2014-2018.

“It was a great opportunity to be a part of the Daily Herald team. It was exciting to be with award-winning and dedicated workers in providing a valued connection of strong community journalism through our print and emerging digital offerings,” Williams said. “With a solid digital foundation, the Daily Herald will continue to provide the best local journalism for many, many, many years to come. Happy birthday to the Daily Herald and its dedicated workforce.”

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