The beginning of the present
Bristol Herald Courier came in August 1865. That was when John Slack founded the
Bristol News. This publication continued until after the turn of the century. In 1870, Slack launched the
Bristol Courier, a weekly which became Bristol's first daily paper in 1888. George L. Carter, founder of the Clinchfield Railroad, moved to Bristol in 1903 and founded the
Bristol Herald. When Carter left Bristol in 1907 the
Herald was combined with the
Courier and became the
Bristol Herald Courier. The 1934
Carter Family song "It'll Aggravate Your Soul" mentions the newspaper. On October 16, 1949, T. Eugene Worrell and a number of the city's leading businessmen launched the
Bristol Virginia-Tennessean, first published in direct competition with the
Herald Courier and the evening
News Bulletin. After many months of intense rivalry, the
Herald Courier and
Virginia-Tennessean joined in a printing agreement allowing both to carry on competitively in news and editorial fields while enjoying economies afforded by joint operations. In 1986, after 36 years of home deliveries, the
Bristol Virginia-Tennessean succumbed to the trend of dying afternoon newspapers and was combined with the morning editions of the
Bristol Herald Courier. The combined morning publication with three editions covered and circulated in nine Southwest Virginia counties, Upper East Tennessee and the City of Bristol. January 1, 1998 marked the sale of the
Bristol Herald Courier to Media General. It was sold to
Berkshire Hathaway in 2012, and later purchased by
Lee Enterprises. Starting June 27, 2023, the print edition of the newspaper will be reduced to three days a week: Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Also, the newspaper will transition from being delivered by a traditional newspaper delivery carrier to mail delivery by the U.S. Postal Service. ==Newsroom staff==