Lancashire Telegraph

Infobox Newspaper
name =


type = Local Newspaper
format = Tabloid
foundation = 1886
owners = Newsquest Media Group Gannett
political = Centre
price = 38p
headquarters = 1 High Street, Blackburn
editor = Kevin Young
ISSN = 1746-0522
website = [http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/ LancashireTelegraph.co.uk]

The "Lancashire Telegraph", formerly the "Lancashire Evening Telegraph", is a local tabloid newspaper distributed in East Lancashire. It has two separate geographic editions each day- one for the boroughs of Blackburn with Darwen, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley and one for Burnley, Pendle, and Rossendale. The main towns in the area are Blackburn, Burnley, Accrington, Darwen, Nelson, Clitheroe, Colne, Rawtenstall and Ramsbottom.

The editor is Kevin Young. The news editor is Ian Singleton. The sports editor is Paul Plunkett. The features editor is John Anson. The picture editor is Neil Johnson. The web editor is Paul Cockerton.

It is owned by Newsquest, a division of the US firm Gannett.

History

The first copy appeared on the streets on October 26 1886 and sold for a ha’penny.

It was known then as the Northern Daily Telegraph and it was the first evening newspaper to be published in East Lancashire.

The founder was Thomas Purvis Ritzema, a young newspaper manager, who had tried to buy an evening newspaper at several stations as he travelled across Lancashire one day, but discovered there wasn’t one published anywhere between Bolton and Glasgow.

Stirred into action, he purchased two shops at 19 and 21 Railway Road, Blackburn, close to the soon-to-be-opened railway station, for the launch of his venture.

For the first time, people in East Lancashire were able to read stories of local interest.

The paper was a success from the start and throughout the decades has continued to play a pivotal role in serving the community.

In 1894 the head office was moved to the corner site of Railway Road and High Street.

From September 7 1939 soon after the start of World War II, advertisements gave way to news on the front page.

On December 10 1956 it changed its title to the Northern Evening Telegraph.

Then on September 2 1963 the name changed again to Lancashire Evening Telegraph.

The newspaper used full colour for the first time on November 11 1963 with spot colour introduced on January 25 1965 and colour in classified advertising following on March 19 1965.

In 1982 it moved to its present head office in the High Street, which marked the introduction of new computerised technology.

And so almost exactly 100 years after the newspaper was founded - on Thursday, October 30 1986 - all news content began to be handled electronically.

In 1995 it became the first regional newspaper in Britain to put daily, updated news on the internet.

In February 2006 the company announced it was to close its district offices in the Lancashire towns of Burnley, Accrington and Darwen, in order to cut costs.

On July 17 2006 the newspaper changed its name to the Lancashire Telegraph as it switched to overnight printing in order to distribute copies in the morning