The newspaper once circulated throughout Florida,Latin America, and theCaribbean, but is primarily focused on South Florida.[4] TheMiami Herald has been awarded 24Pulitzer Prizes.[5] It reaches more than 1.5 million people each week, and millions of readers per month.[6][7]
TheMiami Herald participates in "Politifact Florida," a website that focuses on Florida issues, with theTampa Bay Times. TheHerald and theTimes share resources on news stories related to Florida.[9]
In 1903, Frank B. Stoneman, father ofMarjory Stoneman Douglas, reorganized and moved theOrlando Record to Miami.[10] The first edition was published September 15, 1903, as theMiami Evening Record.[11] After the recession of 1907, the newspaper had severe financial difficulties. In December 1907 it began to publish as theMiami Morning News-Record.[10] Its largest creditor wasHenry Flagler. Through a loan from Henry Flagler, Frank B. Shutts, who was also the founder of the law firmShutts & Bowen, acquired the paper and renamed it theMiami Herald on December 1, 1910. Shutts, originally from Indiana, had come to Florida to monitor the bankruptcy proceedings of the Fort Dallas Bank. Although it is the longest continuously published newspaper in Miami, the earliest newspaper in the region wasThe Tropical Sun, established in 1891.The Miami Metropolis, which later becameThe Miami News, was founded in 1896, and was theHerald's oldest competitor until 1988, when it went out of business.[12]
On October 25, 1939,John S. Knight, son of a notedOhio newspaperman, bought theHerald from Frank B. Shutts. Knight became editor and publisher, and made his brother,James L. Knight, the business manager. TheHerald had 383 employees.Lee Hills arrived as city editor in September 1942. He later became theHerald's publisher and eventually the chairman ofKnight-Ridder Inc., a position he held until 1981.
TheHerald was also involved in its firstFirst Amendment Supreme Court case,Pennekamp v. Florida 328 U.S. 331 (1946), in which it and one of its editors, John D. Pennekamp for whomJohn Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is named for, were held incontempt of court by theDade County Circuit Court for two publications it made on November 2 and November 7 in 1944, both of which were critical of the court's operations.[14][15] The Supreme Court sided with Pennekamp and theHerald, and ultimately held that under the facts of that case, "the danger to fair judicial administration has not the clearness and immediacy necessary to close the door of permissible public comment, and the judgment is reversed as violative of petitioners' right of free expression in the press under the First and Fourteenth Amendments."[16]
The Miami Herald International Edition, printed by partner newspapers throughout theCaribbean andLatin America, began in 1946. It is commonly available at resorts in the Caribbean countries such as theDominican Republic, and, though printed by the largest local newspaperListín Diario, it is not available outside such tourist areas. It was extended to Mexico in 2002.[17]
TheHerald won its first Pulitzer Prize in 1950, for its reporting on Miami'sorganized crime. Its circulation was 176,000 daily and 204,000 on Sundays.
On August 19, 1960, construction began on theHerald building onBiscayne Bay. Also on that day,Alvah H. Chapman, started work as James Knight's assistant. Chapman was later promoted to Knight-Ridder chairman and chief executive officer. TheHerald moved into its new building at One Herald Plaza[18][19][20] without missing an edition on March 23–24, 1963.
The paper also won another press freedom case inMiami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo (1974).[21] In the case, Pat Tornillo Jr., president of the United Teachers of Dade, had requested that theHerald print his rebuttal to an editorial criticizing him, citing Florida's "right-to-reply" law, which mandated that newspapers print such responses. Represented by longtime counselDan Paul, theHerald challenged the law, and the case was appealed to the Supreme Court.[22] The Court unanimously overturned the Florida statute under the Press Freedom Clause of theFirst Amendment, ruling that "Governmental compulsion on a newspaper to publish that which 'reason' tells it should not be published is unconstitutional."[23] The decision showed the limitations of a 1969 decision,Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission, in which a similar "fairness doctrine" had been upheld for radio and television, and establishing that broadcast and print media had different Constitutional protections.[22]
The first African American man to be a reporter at theHerald was Thirlee Smith, Jr. in 1967.[24]The first African American woman to work as a reporter at theMiami Herald wasBea Hines, starting on June 16, 1970.[25] Hines was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1981 for columns which included topics like police brutality and profiling.[26]
Publication of aSpanish-language supplemental insert namedEl Herald began in 1976. It was renamedEl Nuevo Herald in 1987, and in 1998 became an independent publication. TheMiami Herald andEl Nuevo Herald quickly took diverging editorial directions, sometimes leading to tense relations and conflicting information about the Hispanic community in the USA.[27]
In 1997, theMiami Herald assigned the first national reporter charged with coveringLGBT news. Reporter Steve Rothaus, who had been with the paper since 1985, was assigned to this post.[28] After more than 33 years with the paper, Rothaus retired in 2019 as part of a buyout offer made to 450 employees.[29]
TheMiami Herald's former headquarters onBiscayne Bay in theArts & Entertainment District ofDowntown Miami; the paper moved from its waterfront headquarters in 2013 to a location in suburban Doral.[needs update] The Herald building was demolished in 2014.The newspaper's logo.
In 2002, the Miami Herald launched its ownHome & Design magazine (created bySarah Harrelson).[30] In 2003, theMiami Herald andEl Universal of Mexico City created an international joint venture, and in 2004 they together launchedThe Herald Mexico, a short-livedEnglish-language newspaper for readers in Mexico. Its final issue was published in May 2007.
On July 27, 2005, former Miami city commissionerArthur Teele walked into the main lobby of theHerald's headquarters and phonedHerald columnist Jim DeFede, one of several telephone conversations that the two had had during the day, to say that he had a package for DeFede. He then asked a security officer to tell his (Teele's) wife Stephanie that he loved her, before pulling out a gun and committingsuicide.[31] This happened the day theMiami New Times, a weekly newspaper, published salacious details of Teele's alleged affairs, including allegations that he had had sex and usedcocaine with atranssexual prostitute.
The day before committing suicide, Teele had had another telephone conversation with DeFede, who recorded this call without Teele's knowledge, which was illegal under Florida law. DeFede admitted to theHerald's management that he had taped the call. Although the paper used quotes from the tape in its coverage, DeFede was fired the next day for violating the paper's code of ethics, and he was likely guilty of a felony.
Many journalists and readers of theHerald disagreed with the decision to fire rather than suspend DeFede, arguing that it had been made in haste and that the punishment was disproportionate to the offense. 528 journalists, including about 200 current and formerHerald staffers, called on theHerald to reinstate DeFede, but the paper's management refused to back down. The state attorney's office later declined to file charges against the columnist, holding that the potential violation was "without a (living) victim or a complainant."[32]
On September 8, 2006, theMiami Herald's president Jesús Díaz Jr. fired three journalists because they had allegedly been paid by theUnited States government to work for anti-Cubapropaganda TV and radio channels. The three were Pablo Alfonso, Wilfredo Cancio Isla and Olga Connor.[33] Less than a month later, responding to pressure from the Cuban community in Miami, Díaz resigned after reinstating the fired journalists, saying that "policies prohibiting such behavior were ambiguously communicated, inconsistently applied and widely misunderstood over many years."[34] Nevertheless, he continued to state that such payments, especially if made from organs of the state, violate the principles ofjournalistic independence.[34] At least seven other journalists who did not work at theHerald, namely Miguel Cossio, Carlos Alberto Montaner, Juan Manuel Cao, Ariel Remos, Omar Claro, Helen Aguirre Ferre, Paul Crespo, and Ninoska Perez-Castellón, were also paid for programs onRadio Martí orTV Martí,[33][35] both financed by the government of the United States through theBroadcasting Board of Governors, receiving a total of betweenUS$15,000 andUS$175,000 since 2001.
In May 2011, the paper announced it had sold 14 acres (5.7 ha) ofBiscayne Bayfront land surrounding its headquarters in theArts & Entertainment District of Downtown Miami for $236million, to a Malaysian resort developer,Genting Malaysia Berhad.McClatchy announced that theHerald andEl Nuevo Herald would be moving to another location by 2013.[36] In May 2013, the paper moved to a new building in suburbanDoral.[37] The old building was demolished in 2014.[38]
In November 2018, theHerald broke the story that "in 2007, despite substantial evidence that corroborated [female teenagers'] stories of [sexual] abuse by[Jeffrey] Epstein, the U.S. attorney in Miami,Alexander Acosta, signed off on a secret deal for the multimillionaire, one that ensured he would never spend a day in prison." Thus, the full extent of Epstein's crimes and his collaborators remained hidden and the victims unaware of this arrangement.[39] In July 2019, Epstein was charged with sex trafficking dozens of minors between 2002 and 2005; reporting at the time noted how theHerald brought public attention to accusations against Epstein.[40][41][42]
On December 17, 2019, it was announced theMiami Herald would move to a six-days-a-week format.[43]
On January 21, 2020, it was announced that theMiami Herald would close its Doral printing plant and move its printing and packaging operations to theSouth FloridaSun Sentinel's printing facilities inDeerfield Beach. TheHerald stopped printing its own editions as of April 26, 2020.[44][45]
In 2023, theMiami Herald andEl Nuevo Herald laid off six workers, the worst round of job cuts to the newspaper's news staff since 2019.[46] That same year, theMiami Herald named Alex Mena the newspaper's executive director.[47] He began working at the newspaper at the age of 19 and became theMiami Herald's first immigrant executive editor.[48]
The average daily (printed) circulation of the Herald, which was 440,225 as recently as 1998, had fallen to 12,623 by August 2024. Paid digital circulation had reached 44,011, but fell to 30,840 in 2023.[49]
TheMiami Herald Silver Knight Awards is an awards program that recognizes outstanding individuals and leaders who have maintained good grades and contributed service to their schools and communities. The Silver Knight Awards program was instituted at theMiami Herald in 1959 byJohn S. Knight, past publisher of The Miami Herald, founder and editor emeritus ofKnight-Ridder Newspapers and winner of the 1968Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing.[50]
The program is open to high school seniors with a minimum 3.2GPA (unweighted) in public, charter, private, and parochial schools inMiami-Dade andBroward counties. Students may be recognized in one of 15 categories: Art, Athletics, Business, Digital and Interactive (previously New Media), Drama, English and Literature, General Scholarship, Journalism, Mathematics, Music and Dance, Science, Social Science, Speech, Vocational-Technical, and World Languages. Each school may only nominate one student per category.
A panel of independent judges appointed by the Miami Herald for each category interviews the nominees in that category. Each panel selects one Silver Knight and three Honorable Mentions in its category for each of the two counties (30 Silver Knights and 90 Honorable Mentions each year). The honorees are revealed during the Silver Knight Awards ceremony, televised locally from Miami'sJames L. Knight Center.[51][52] In 2020, Silver Knights received a $2,000 scholarship, a Silver Knight statue, anAAdvantage 25,000-mile travel certificate and a medallion (from sponsorAmerican Airlines). Honorable Mentions each received a $500 scholarship and an engraved plaque.
Because of theCOVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 awards ceremony was live-streamed on May 28 from a video studio at the Miami Herald's newsroom; the nominees attended viaZoom video conference.[53]
The Silver Knight Awards have been given in Miami-Dade County since 1959 and in Broward County since 1984. Silver Knight Awards were given toPalm Beach County students from 1985 through 1990.[54] The program is sponsored by organizations with ties to South Florida; the cash awards have been made possible over the years in part by the support of theJohn S. and James L. Knight Foundation and theArthur M. Blank Family Foundation.
The previous headquarters, One Herald Plaza, were located on a 14-acre (5.7 ha) plot inBiscayne Bay,Miami. This facility opened in March 1963. In 2011 theGenting Group, a Malaysian company, offered to pay the Miami Herald Media Company $236million for the current headquarters property. The company began scouting for a new headquarters location after finalizing the sale.[55] The then president and publisher of the media company, David Landsberg, stated that it was not necessary at that point to be located in the city center, and remaining there would be too cost-prohibitive.[56] The newspaper moved to its current Doral headquarters in 2013. On April 28, 2014, demolition began on the building on Biscayne Bay between the MacArthur and Venetian causeways.[57]
In a later period it was headquartered inDoral, Florida.[58][56] It is located in a two‑story, 160,000-square-foot (15,000 m2) building that had been theU.S. Southern Command center. The newspaper used 110,000 square feet (10,000 m2) of space for office purposes. In 2013 there were 650 people working there. The newspaper had purchased land adjacent to the headquarters to build the 119,000-square-foot (11,100 m2) printing plant.[56] The newspaper, working during theCOVID-19 pandemic in Florida, was to close its Doral offices in August 2020 and later relocate to a new facility after a period ofremote work.[59] The remote work began prior to the closure of the office, which did occur. The publication sold the Doral office in September 2021, getting $27.3 million.[60]
In 2023, theMiami Herald announced its new headquarters would be in the Waterford Business District, relocating from Doral and after being without offices since 2020.[61][62][63]
TheMiami Herald has received 24 Pulitzer Prizes:[8]
2023:Editorial Writing, the editorial board, for "Editorials on the failure of Florida public officials to deliver on many taxpayer-funded amenities and services promised to residents over decades."[64]
2022:Breaking News Reporting, staff, "For its urgent yet sweeping coverage of the collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium complex."[65]
2017:Editorial Cartooning,Jim Morin, "For editorial cartoons that delivered sharp perspectives through flawless artistry, biting prose and crisp wit."[66]
2017:Explanatory Reporting, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, McClatchy and Miami Herald, "For thePanama Papers, a series of stories using a collaboration of more than 300 reporters on six continents to expose the hidden infrastructure and global scale of offshore tax havens. (Moved by the Board from theInternational Reporting category, where it was entered.)"[67]
2009:Breaking News Photography, Patrick Farrell, "for his provocative, impeccably composed images of despair afterHurricane Ike and other lethal storms caused a humanitarian disaster inHaiti."
2007:Local Reporting,Debbie Cenziper, "for reports on waste, favoritism and lack of oversight at the Miami housing agency that resulted in dismissals, investigations and prosecutions." In 2007, Cenziper's investigation was featured in the PBS documentary seriesExposé: America's Investigative Reports in an episode entitled "Money For Nothing."
2004:Commentary,Leonard Pitts Jr., "for his fresh, vibrant columns that spoke, with both passion and compassion, to ordinary people on often divisive issues."
1999:Investigative Reporting, staff, "for its detailed reporting that revealed pervasive voter fraud in a citymayoral election that was subsequently overturned."
1993:Meritorious Public Service, staff, "for coverage that not only helped readers cope withHurricane Andrew's devastation but also showed how lax zoning, inspection and building codes had contributed to the destruction.";
1993:Commentary,Liz Balmaseda, "for her commentary from Haiti about deteriorating political and social conditions and her columns about Cuban-Americans in Miami."
1991:Spot News Reporting, staff, "for stories profiling a local cult leaderYahweh ben Yahweh, his followers, and their links to several area murders."
1988:Commentary,Dave Barry, "for his consistently effective use of humor as a device for presenting fresh insights into serious concerns."
1988:Feature Photography,Michel du Cille, "for photographs portraying the decay and subsequent rehabilitation of a housing project overrun by the drug crack."
1976:General Reporting,Gene Miller, for his persistent and courageous reporting over8+1⁄2 years that led to the exoneration and release of two men who had twice been tried for murder and wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death in Florida.
1967:Specialized Reporting,Gene Miller, for investigative reporting that helped to free two persons wrongfully convicted of murder.
In the 1960s under the leadership ofWomen's Page editorMarie Anderson and assistant women's page editorMarjorie Paxson theHerald won fourMissouri Lifestyle Journalism Awards (then called the Penney-Missouri Awards) for General Excellence.[68] The section won the award in 1960, the year of the awards' inauguration.[68] In 1961, it won again, and the program director asked Anderson to sit the 1962 awards out.[68] In 1963 the paper took second place, and in 1964 another first, and the paper was barred from competing for the next five years. In 1969 it won another first. Kimberly Wilmot Voss and Lance Speere, writing in the scholarly journalFlorida Historical Quarterly, said Anderson "personified" the Penney-Missouri competition's goals.[69]
In March 2025, Alex Mena, executive editor of theMiami Herald andEl Nuevo Herald (and Florida regional editor for McClatchy), received the 2025 South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s HLA Communications Award.[70][71]
^abcHarper, Kimberly."Marie Anderson". State Historical Society of Missouri. Archived fromthe original on January 17, 2019. RetrievedDecember 26, 2018.
^Voss, Kimberly Wilmot; Speere, Lance (2007). "A Women's Page Pioneer: Marie Anderson and Her Influence at the Miami Herald and Beyond".Florida Historical Quarterly.85 (4):398–421.JSTOR30150079.
Previously the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, No Edition Time from 1953–1963 and the Pulitzer Prize for Local Investigative Specialized Reporting from 1964–1984
