Responsibility for getting the newspaper from the press to the reader falls to the distribution division. Large newspapers publish two, three or even four editions , all of which must be ready to leave the newspaper plant at a certain time. The first edition , sometimes called the bulldog edition, goes to the outer limits of the newspaper's circulation area . This may be several counties or even an entire state.
Later editions contain progressively fresher news and go to smaller areas.
The final edition , which goes to press after midnight, contains the latest news but covers the smallest geographical area, usually a city. Newspaper distributors pick up their bundles at The Herald-Sun in the early hours of the morning. Any subscriber to a daily newspaper knows that it plops onto the driveway in the wee hours of the morning. Independent contractors called carriers buy copies of the newspaper at a discount and deliver them, using their personal vehicles. When afternoon newspapers were common, those vehicles often were bicycles.