Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph

The "Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph", founded by William Brown (c.1737-1789) as the "Quebec Gazette" on June 21, 1764, claims to be the oldest newspaper in North America. Formerly a bilingual (French/English) publication, in 1873 the "Quebec Gazette" joined the "Morning Chronicle" to become the "Quebec Chronicle and Quebec Gazette".

Published today as a weekly from offices at 1248 Chemin Ste-Foy, in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, the newspaper is a descendant of several newspapers published during the past three centuries. Until 1842, the newspaper published editions in both French and English. It started as a weekly, but in May 1832, it began appearing in English on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and in French on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

In 1925 another merger occurred, with the "Quebec Daily Telegraph" and the paper was published under the banner of the "Chronicle-Telegraph" until 1934, when it added "Quebec" at the front of its name where it remains to this day.

In 1959, the paper was sold to the Thomson Group, owned by Canadian media mogul Roy Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet, and in 1972 went from being a daily to its current weekly edition. The paper was sold again in 1979 and, on January 1, 1993, was published from January 1, 1993, by Karen Macdonald and François Vézina. The current Publisher, Pierre Little, a New Brunswick native, took over officially from the former publishers on August 1, 2007. Please see the newspapers website [http://www.qctonline.com] for more details.

Its ISSN is 0226-9252.

Claims of seniority

The "Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph" claims to be North-America's oldest newspaper.

* The "Maryland Gazette" began publication in 1727, though it died in its tenth year and the name was only revived in 1922;
* The "New Hampshire Gazette" began publication on October 7, 1756 and continues as a weekly today. However, the name disappeared for a time and the new version was started from scratch by a different owner who had not purchased the paper from a previous owner;
* In Canada, the "Halifax Gazette", founded in 1752, claims to be "Canada's first newspaper." However, its official descendant, the "Royal Gazette", is a government publication for legal notices and proclamations rather than a proper newspaper;
* The "Newport Mercury" began as a weekly in 1758 and still publishes news today under the same name, ceasing publication only for a short period during the American Revolution. [http://www.newportdailynews.com/about/ NewportDailyNews.com: About Us] , accessed June 26, 2008.] Though it cannot claim to be the oldest continually-published paper in North America, neither can the "Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph", which also ceased publication during the siege of Quebec in November 1775; <-- disputed by the Quebec Chronicle Telegraph, 2008.
* Finally, there is the "Hartford Courant", founded October 29, 1764, a few months after the Quebec Chronicle Telegraph. The argument from the "Courant" is that it has never missed a day of publication since its foundation.

The "Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph" therefore has a defendable claim to being the oldest SURVIVING newspaper that still publishes news in Canada and the oldest in North America with continuous corporate bona fide buyouts from current proprietors to new successors. No other newspaper has this claim in North America and quite possible the New World.

External links

* [http://www.qctonline.com "Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph" web site]

References