The Daily Examiner is circulated to Grafton, the Clarence Valley and surrounding areas from Woody Head in the north to Red Rock in the south.

[8] Grafton generally had three or more newspapers from 1874 into the new century when the tri-weekly Clarence and Richmond Examiner was converted into a daily on 1 July 1915, "to keep public issues constantly before the minds of the people".

Grafton has had a succession of long-serving editors who won renown for their editorial leadership in community affairs, most notably Cecil Bush Bailey (1886–1944), William Bailey-Tart (1944–1960) and John Irvine Moorhead (1960–1977).

Grafton surgeon Earle Page, later a caretaker Prime Minister, was a major boardroom influence on The Examiner as it continued to champion the New England New State proposal, a hydro-electric scheme on the Nymboida River, and a deep-sea port plan for Iluka.

Editors who have had the stewardship of the paper in the era of modern technological advancement include Geoff Orchison, Robert Milne and Peter Ellem, who has campaigned for a second Grafton bridge crossing, an ambulance station/health clinic in Yamba, and improvements to the Pacific Highway.