Lexington is a mid-sized college town with a well-educated population. As it grows, it continues to maintain its charm. Lexington's diverse economy is dispersed among the service industry, government, retail trade, manufacturing, and construction. It remains the regional health care, education and shopping hub for Central and Eastern Kentucky. The Lexington Herald-Leader is committed to being Central and Eastern Kentucky's primary source of news, advertising, information, and commentary. For a media company in a mid-sized market, the Lexington Herald-Leader has no shortage of prestige, having won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting, the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing, and the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning and a finalist in a number of other categories over the years.

In 2020, McClatchy transitioned to private ownership when it was acquired by Chatham Asset Management. The Chatham acquisition marked the beginning of a new era of opportunity for McClatchy, strengthening the Company's financial position and enabling it to build on its 150-plus year history of independent, community-focused journalism by investing in local newsrooms.