[7] On February 14, 2018, Digital First Media successfully bid $11.9 million to purchase the company in a bankruptcy auction;[8] the acquisition was completed on March 19, 2018.

Its first editor, William O. Eaton, just 22 years old, said "The Herald will be independent in politics and religion; liberal, industrious, enterprising, critically concerned with literacy and dramatic matters, and diligent in its mission to report and analyze the news, local and global."

The television station operated for years beginning some time after under temporary authority from the Federal Communications Commission.

Controversy arose over luncheon meetings the newspaper's chief executive purportedly had with John C. Doerfer, chairman of the FCC between 1957 and 1960, who served as a commissioner during the original licensing process.

The FCC ordered comparative hearings, and in 1969 a competing applicant, Boston Broadcasters, Inc., was granted a construction permit to replace WHDH-TV on channel 5.

Herald-Traveler Corporation fought the decision in court—by this time, revenues from channel 5 were all but keeping the newspaper afloat—but lost its final appeal.

The Herald American converted to tabloid format in September 1981,[17] but Hearst faced steep declines in circulation and advertising.

In February 1994, Murdoch's News Corporation was forced to sell the paper, in order that its subsidiary Fox Television Stations could legally consummate its purchase of Fox affiliate WFXT (Channel 25) because Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy included language in an appropriations bill barring one company from owning a newspaper and television station in the same market.

Several years later, Purcell would give the Herald a suburban presence it never had by purchasing the money-losing Community Newspaper Company from Fidelity Investments.

Although the companies merged under the banner of Herald Media, Inc., the suburban papers maintained their distinct editorial and marketing identity.

The deal, which also saw GateHouse acquiring The Patriot Ledger and The Enterprise respectively in south suburban Quincy and Brockton, netted $225 million for Purcell, who vowed to use the funds to clear the Herald's debt and reinvest in the Paper.

In December 2017, the Herald announced plans to sell itself to GateHouse Media after filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

[26][27] However, in early January 2018, another potential buyer, Revolution Capital Group of Los Angeles, filed a bid with the federal bankruptcy court; the Herald reported in a press release that "the court requires BHI [Boston Herald, Inc.] to hold an auction to allow all potential buyers an opportunity to submit competing offers.

"[28] In February 2018, acquisition of the Herald by Digital First Media for almost $12 million was approved by the bankruptcy court judge in Delaware.

[34] In June, some design and advertising layoffs were expected, with work moving to a sister paper, The Denver Post.