Reading Eagle

The Reading Eagle is the major daily newspaper in Reading, Pennsylvania, in the United States. This family-owned newspaper has a daily circulation of 49,375 and a Sunday circulation of 70,832. It serves the Reading and Berks County region of Pennsylvania.

Due to skyrocketing debt and plunging circulation, publisher William Flippin's responsibilities were curtailed in 2011 and Peter Barbey was brought on board as CEO. Other executives who were ousted include associate publisher Larry Orkus, board secretary James Flippin, and CFO Micheal Mizak.

History
The paper was founded on January 28, 1868. It was initially an afternoon paper, published Sunday through Saturday.

In 1940, the Eagle acquired the Reading Times, which was a morning paper, but they remained separate papers. The staff of the two papers was combined in 1982. In June 2002, the Reading Times ceased publishing, and the Eagle became a morning paper.

Author John Updike worked at the Eagle as a copyboy in his youth for several summer interships in the early 1950s, and wrote several feature articles.

In late April 2009, the newspaper laid off 52 employees, about 12% of its workforce, without severance and with two weeks health benefits. The move was a necessary step to cope with the economy and the troubles the newspaper industry specifically is facing.

Sunday Edition
The banner on its Sunday comics section says "Biggest Comics Section in the Land", although it used to be two full-size sections long. It carries half pages of Prince Valiant and Hagar the Horrible. As of 2012 it also carries the following comic strips: