By the Numbers

By Michael F. Flach
HERALD Editor
(From the issue of 1/31/02)

February is Catholic Press Month, a time traditionally set aside to promote the HERALD, and other Catholic newspapers and magazines, through the parishes. Please use your parish envelopes to help support your parish and the paper. At $15 per year, the HERALD is still one of the best bargains you'll find.

This year's Catholic Press Month theme is "Strengthening our spirituality, diversity and community." This theme is expressed so well by Archbishop John P. Foley, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, who says the Catholic press is an important source of strength for his spirituality and for his sense of Catholic identification and community.

In the midst of publishing an issue each week it's easy to lose sight of some basic aspects of the paper, which may not be well known to our readers.

Our current staff is relatively young. We now have 13 full-time employees, six of whom have less than three years experience in the Catholic press. Another five have less than five years experience. If you discount the experience of myself (20 years) and Managing Editor Ann Augherton (17 years), the average period of service is 2.7 years per person.

The Washington area is known for its transient nature. Military and government personnel are constantly moving in and out on a regular basis. The composition of the HERALD's staff is no different. Only five people were born and raised in Virginia. Two are from New York, and one each from Maryland, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Ohio, Peru and Mexico. Eight of the 13 staff members are women.

Other facts to consider:

The paper is printed in Waldorf, Md. Our weekly circulation of 60,000 makes us the largest non-daily publication in the Virginia Press Association and one of the largest diocesan papers in the country. At least four people, on average, view each copy of the paper. That means an estimated 240,000 people will see the HERALD each week. Since our primary goal is to be an evangelization tool for the bishop, those numbers are hard to beat.

The average number of pages per issue is 32. There are 51 issues per year. So we publish a total of 1,632 pages per year. The annual subscription rate is $15.00, which translates to a little more than 29 cents per copy (less than the cost of a local phone call).

We try to provide a wide range of stories and columns. Our regular features include: Gospel commentary (by one of four local priests), Bishop Paul S. Loverde's homily, around the diocese, letters to the editor, names in the news, school news, high school student stories, parish profiles, coming events, Spanish page, entertainment, youth news, sports and opinion page. In addition, we offer local, national and international Catholic news.

Our litany of award-winning columnists matches up with any Catholic paper in the country. In addition to Bishop Loverde, we feature George Weigel, Russell Shaw, Elizabeth Foss, Msgr. Robert Aucoin, Mary Beth Bonacci, Dr. James Hitchcock and Fr. William Saunders.

A vital part of our publication is advertising, which not only provides a valuable service to our readers, but allows us to keep our subscription price down by covering the cost of printing and mailing the paper.

Call today (1-800-377-0511) to renew your subscription or send a gift subscription to a family member or friend. Our circulation department is ready to help.— M.F.F.

Copyright ©2002 Arlington Catholic Herald.  All rights reserved.