Staffers — Times Publishing Company, including its affiliate companies, has a staff of about 2,000 in all locations including bureaus in Tallahassee, Miami and Washington, D.C.

Circulation — Average daily circulation for 2005 was 317,840 daily and 405,949 Sundays.

When it comes to the number of people who read the Times, it’s approximately double our circulation. We estimate more than 755,000 people read the paper every day and on Sundays it’s close to a million.

Newspapers measure their success by penetration — the number of newspapers sold in an area compared to the number of households there. The Times has one of the highest home-county penetrations in the country at 50 percent daily and 62 percent Sunday.

Price — The newsstand price of the newspaper is 35¢ daily and $1 on Sundays. In certain parts of our circulation area our newspaper is sold for 25¢ daily and 50¢ on Sundays, for promotional reasons. These prices remain significantly lower than other major metropolitan newspapers nationwide.

Production — In 2006, 59,000 tons of newsprint were delivered to press. This is an average of 160 tons per day. About 20,000 copies can be produced from one roll of newsprint, which weighs about a ton.

Our 63 Goss Metro Press units are laid out in 3 press lines of 21 units each. Each press line is located in a separate press room. A press can print as many as 60,000 newspapers per hour.

Packaging handles approximately 100 preprinted advertising sections per week.

Transportation includes about 138 vehicles, including vans, trucks, utility vehicles, cars and one 1922 Model T Ford used in parades. Combined, these vehicles drove a total of 2.1 million miles in 2006. 

Our community involvement includes sponsorship of the annual Turkey Trot race

Since its founding in 1884, the St. Petersburg Times has been more than a local newspaper, more even than Florida’s best newspaper. It has been an integral part of the communities we serve.

The Times’ support of educational, cultural, social-service and civic institutions is legendary. In recent years, the newspaper has contributed more than $1-million annually through grants and donated advertising space to not-for-profit organizations, with a particular emphasis on programs that support education and literacy. Our community involvement takes several forms:

In 1996, we brought the Vice Presidential Debate to St. Petersburg

Event Sponsorships — Each year the Times sponsors events in five counties that contribute to the quality of life, give exposure to the Times and support to the local community. These events range from concerts and civic parades to lecture series and arts festivals. Appealing to diverse interests, these events have included the Times Turkey Trot running race, Mainsail Art Festival, Carnivale at Centro Ybor, Pasco's Chasco Fiesta, and the St. Petersburg Times Bike Tour. Times support includes running ads to encourage event participation and may also include design of promotional pieces (maps, brochures, posters), cash contributions and planning assistance.

Often at these events, Times banners, our giant inflatable newspaper rack or balloon and a Circulation sales booth attest to our sponsorship support.

Spot the NewsHound, our official literacy mascot, appears at many community events.

Literacy Events — The Times has a special interest in developing both readers and journalists for the future. The Circulation Department’s Newspaper in Education program places the newspaper in classrooms throughout our five-county distribution area. We sponsor the University of South Florida’s annual young writers’ workshop, work closely with the journalism program at Melrose Elementary School providing mentors as well as financial assistance and help support literacy event at libraries and civic groups. In addition, we sponsor a Junior Journalist program in Citrus and Pasco counties.

Our annual Festival of Reading attracts more than 20,000 people.

The St. Petersburg Times Festival of Reading, begun in 1993, attracts thousands of adults and children each fall. They enjoy lectures by nationally recognized authors, panel discussions, a children’s storyland, activities for children, dramatic readings, book vendor booths, music and food. The Times’ literacy mascot, Spot the NewsHound, attends most literacy-related events.

Times staffers give their time to help the community.

Forums, Speakers Bureau, Tours and Staffer Involvement — The Times sponsors community forums featuring Times writers and community experts on various subjects.

We also offer a speakers bureau and group tours of Times facilities. In addition, Times staffers offer volunteer leadership to countless area organizations. Staffer teams help paint and repair houses in the Paint Your Heart Out programs in several communities. Many staffers get involved in the United Way’s Day of Caring activities, and play other roles during the annual campaign. Times staffers regularly participate in festivals and parades while countless more sit on boards of community organizations, chambers of commerce, civic organizations, museums, visual and performing art centers and more.

Teens compete for awards in Envirothon.

Grants — A committee of Times executives meets quarterly to consider dozens of requests for philanthropic contributions from groups in our five county circulation area. Grants cover social-service agencies, civic and cultural organizations, educational institutions and journalism industry programs. Significant gifts have benefited The Florida Aquarium, The Florida International Museum, the University of South Florida, The Florida Orchestra, The Mahaffey Theater, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Great Explorations and the American Stage Theater Company. Smaller gifts have helped many other organizations, including Boys and Girls Clubs, libraries, museums, arts centers and more. Requests are made in writing to the Director of the St. Petersburg Times Fund, Inc.

2004 Barnes Scholarship recipients Shakira Carter, Jian Zheng, Ashley Kuhn and Joshua Reed.

Scholarships — The St. Petersburg Times Fund annually awards thousands of dollars in college scholarships. A program was launched in 1999 to award annually up to $15,000 a year for four years of college to four outstanding high school seniors from our five county market. These Barnes scholarships are in addition to the journalism scholarships originally created in 1953 by Nelson Poynter. These merit awards are given to promising journalism students who complete internships at the Times, as well as to high school seniors from our area who aspire to be journalists.

Since its inception, the fund has awarded over $17 million in grants, scholarships and fellowships.

The Times is a major sponsor of Devil Rays baseball.

Marketing & Sports Partnerships — Being both a civic and news leader has given us the opportunity to partner with several of the area's facilities and sports franchises. The fans will notice Times promotional exposure at Tropicana Field when the Devil Rays play baseball or Metallica plays in concert; at minor league ball parks in Tampa, Clearwater, Dunedin and St. Petersburg; at the Ford Amphitheatre; at the Florida State Fairgrounds; all over the St. Pete Times Forum during Tampa Bay Lightning hockey games or Storm arena football games plus the numerous concerts and events held at that venue. Crowd-stopping historic Times front pages are at International Plaza, BayWalk and Centro Ybor while thousands shop, dine or are entertained. Times inter-active information centers are staffed at the St. Pete Times Forum, Tropicana Field, Ford Amphitheatre and International Plaza.

Recycling & Waste Reduction Program — The St. Petersburg Times has been recognized locally, regionally and nationally for our strong recycling and waste reduction programs. Day in, day out, we practice the three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Why so much emphasis on recycling? Government regulations must be met, but, equally important, recycling makes good business sense. For example, in 2001 about 20,000 tons of materials of all types were recycled. If these products had been disposed of as waste, the minimal charge to the Times would have been almost $1-million.

Waste reduction is a similar success story. Since our efforts began in 1989, we have cut in half the amount of waste generated by our printing plant.