The Villages Daily Sun

The Villages Daily Sun
Type Daily newspaper
Format Broadsheet and online
Owner(s) Villages Media Management
Publisher Phil Markward
Editor Bonita Burton
Founded 1997
Headquarters 1100 Main Street
The Villages, Florida 32159, United States
Circulation 41,834 daily and 43,553 Sunday[1]
ISSN 1528-2821
Website www.thevillagesdailysun.com

The Villages Daily Sun is a daily newspaper in The Villages, Florida, whose coverage focused on issues of local interest to portions of Sumter, Lake, and Marion counties in central Florida.[2] According to a report by the Alliance for Audited Media, the Sun’s weekday circulation is 55,700 and this is up 169 percent since 2003, this is all happening when newspaper circulation around the United States has dropped 43 percent. The sun also has a 92 percent market penetration share in the community.[3]

The Villages Daily Sun is one of only two newspapers in the state of Florida that continues to be family-owned, with the other being the Key West Citizen. [4]

The newspaper is part of a media group that includes AM-640 Radio, Villages News Network TV, and The Villages Magazine.

Newspaper strategy

The strategy for the news paper is to be a print first publication, with a recent Sunday issue including a 36-page insert listing the schedules of hundreds of clubs and recreation centers within the Villages, 48 pages of editorial content, and 14 pages of classified advertising. The Daily Sun is also bucking the trend with having their pages loaded with advertisements for real estate, doctors, banks, golf courses, restaurants, and a wide selection of retail outlets.[3]

The Daily Sun also has a special projects team that works on more complex issues and in-depth reporting that my take up to one year of investigation before publication. The team had an in-depth feature on Florida's death-penalty sentencing policies in 2016 and the reporting went on to win multiple awards.[3][5]

Staff

The Daily Sun has a editorial staff of approximately 50 with many of the reporters in the 20s and 30s. Most of the reporters and editors do not meet the age requirement of 55 to live in The Villages community, so they live in nearby cities or towns.[3]

Awards

  • The Villages Daily Sun was named one of 12 finalists for the World's Best Designed Newspapers - (2017)[6]
  • The Villages Daily Sun earned nine Inland Press Association national awards, including first-place among all newspapers in the Community Leadership Award - (2016)[7]
  • Top 10 distinction in explanatory writing in the Associated Press Sports Editors national competition - (2016)[8]
  • First place in sports reporting in the Society for Professional Journalists' Florida competition - (2016)
  • Honors for sports reporting and political reporting from the Florida Society of News Editors, and five awards for visual journalism, including two first places in information graphics - (2016)
  • Five Awards of Excellence in the Society for News Design's international competition - (2016)

References

  1. ↑ "Villages Daily Sun". Echo Media. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  2. ↑ Erisman, Ryan (2017). Inside the Bubble: Unauthorized Guide to Florida’s Most Popular Community. ISBN 978-1979953511.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Geltner, Ted (2018-09-02). "Print Is Dead? Not Here". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-09-06.
  4. ↑ Staff, Report (2018-06-18). "Gondolier and Sun newspapers sold". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Retrieved 2018-06-21.
  5. ↑ "Inland 2016 Newsroom Contests highlight achievements in design, innovation, artistry". Retrieved 2018-09-06.
  6. ↑ Myrick Parks, Katie. "SND38: Announcing the 12 finalists for World's Best-Designed Newspaper". The Society for News Design. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  7. ↑ "Inland Press Association announces winners in the 2016 Newsroom Contests". Inland Press Association. 2016-10-25. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  8. ↑ Staff, Writer (2017-02-27). "13 media groups win top sports journalism prize". Associated Press. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
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