- The News Letter
-
The Belfast News Letter 
Type Daily newspaper Format Tabloid Owner Johnston Publishing (NI) Editor Darwin Templeton Founded 1737 Political alignment Unionist Language English Headquarters Belfast, Northern Ireland Circulation 23,492 (December 2010-June 2011)[1] Official website www.newsletter.co.uk The News Letter is one of Northern Ireland's main daily newspapers, published Monday to Saturday. It is the oldest English language general daily newspaper still in publication in the world, having first been printed in 1737.[2][3]
The newspaper's editorial stance and readership, while originally republican,[4] is strongly unionist. Its primary competitors are the Belfast Telegraph and the Irish News. The News Letter has changed hands several times since the mid-1990s, and since 2005 is owned by the Johnston Press holding company Johnston Publishing (NI). The full legal title of the newspaper is the "Belfast News Letter" though the word Belfast does not appear on the masthead any more.[5]
Contents
History
Founded in 1737, the News Letter was printed in Joy's Entry in Belfast. The Joys were a family of Huguenot descent who added much to eighteenth-century Belfast, noted for their compiling materials for its history. Francis Joy, the father of Henry and Robert, had come to Belfast early in the century from the County Antrim village of Killead. In Belfast, he married the daughter of the town sovereign, and set up a practice as an attorney. In 1737, he obtained a small printing-press which was in settlement of a debt, and used it to publish the town’s first newspaper at the sign of ‘The Peacock’ in Bridge Street. The family later bought a paper mill in Ballymena, and were able to produce enough paper not only for their own publication but for the whole province of Ulster.[6][7]
Originally published three times weekly, it became daily in 1855. The title is now located in the Boucher Road industrial estate in the south of Belfast.
The Belfast News Letter published news of the American Declaration of Independence in its August 23, 1776 edition.[8] According to the newspaper's owners:
“ The News Letter [can claim] the first genuine "world exclusive". The boat carrying the first copy to leave America of the Declaration of Independence, and bound for London, hit stormy waters off the north coast of Ireland. The boat sought refuge in Londonderry port and arrangements were made for the declaration to be sent on horseback to Belfast, where it would be met by another ship for delivery to King George III. Somehow, and in the best traditions of revelatory journalism, the News Letter editor of the day gained access to the priceless document and duly published it on the front page of the August 23, 1776 edition. Today there is a constant demand for copies of that famous and historical front page.[9]
” —The Belfast Newsletter
However the London Chronicle was the first to print the Declaration in full in its August 15–17, 1776 edition.[10]
Before the partition of Ireland in 1922, the News Letter was distributed island-wide.[citation needed]
Other publications
The paper publishes several weekly and infrequent supplements, such as Farming Life and Catwalk. It also prints many titles for other publishers including Trinity Mirror and Guardian Media Group. It also prints the Ulster-Scots Agency publication, The Ulster-Scot.[citation needed]
Circulation
In the period December 2010-June 2011, it had an average daily circulation of 23,492.[1]
References
- ^ a b "ABC figures: How the regional dailies performed". HoldTheFrontPage (UK). 31 August 2011. http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/2011/news/norwich-daily-tops-regional-circulation-league. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
- ^ Research guide: Irish news & newspapers, Boston College, 13 December 2004, accessed 25 September 2006
- ^ Ruth Johnston, Your place and mine: Belfast News Letter, BBC, accessed 25 September 2006
- ^ A Deeper Silence: The Hidden Origins of the United Irishmen, A. T. Q. Stewart, The Blackstaff Press, 1998, ISBN 0 85640 642 2 pg. 134-164
- ^ British Newspapers Online
- ^ The Life and Times of Mary Ann McCracken, 1770-1866: a Belfast Panorama, Mary McNeill, The Blackstaff Press, rpt 1988
- ^ A Deeper Silence: The Hidden Origins of the United Irishmen, A. T. Q. Stewart, The Blackstaff Press, 1998, ISBN 0 85640 642 2
- ^ Carroll, Francis M. The American presence in Ulster: a diplomatic history, 1796-1996. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=RwgmFWb6LR4C&pg=PA8&dq=%22Declaration+of+independence%22+%2BBelfast+%2B%22first+published%22#v=onepage&q=%22Declaration%20of%20independence%22%20%20Belfast%20%20%22first%20published%22&f=false. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
- ^ The history of the News Letter, Belfast Today, accessed 25 September 2006
- ^ The Declaration of Independence - A Global History, Google Books, accessed 06 march 2009
External links
Irish newspapers owned by Johnston Press Daily News LetterLocal/Regional Ballymena Times • Ballymoney and Moyle Times • Coleraine Times • Derry Journal • Donegal Democrat / Donegal People’s Press • Donegal on Sunday • Dromore Leader • Dundalk Democrat • The Echo • Larne Times • Leinster Leader • Leinster Express • Kilkenny People • Leitrim Observer • Limerick Leader • Londonderry Sentinel • Longford Leader • Lurgan Mail • Mid Ulster Mail • The Nationalist and Munster Advertiser • Offaly Express • Portadown Times • Sunday Journal • Tipperary Star • Tyrone Times • Ulster StarFreesheets Banbridge & District Weekender • Belfast News • City News • Craigavon Echo • East Antrim Advertiser • Foyle News • Letterkenny People • Lisburn Echo • Mid Ulster Echo • North West EchoHolding Companies Categories:- 1737 establishments
- Media in Belfast
- Newspapers published in Northern Ireland
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