Swindon Advertiser: Difference between revisions
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Siobhan Boyle |
Siobhan Boyle |
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Crime reporter |
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Ben Perrin |
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Health reporter |
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Hayley Court |
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Education reporter |
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Sarah Hilley |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 13:46, 22 June 2009
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| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner(s) | Newsquest Media Group |
| Founded | 1854 |
| Headquarters | Old Town, Swindon |
| Website | swindonadvertiser.co.uk |
The Swindon Advertiser (affectionately known by locals as 'the Adver')is a daily tabloid newspaper, published in Swindon. The newspaper was founded in 1854, and had a circulation in 2006 of 22,321.[1]
It claims to have been the UK's first 'penny-paper'.[2]
It is owned by Newsquest, the UK subsidiary of U.S.-based Gannett Company.
It is the original of the four newspapers head-quartered in the Newsquest Wiltshire building in Victoria Road, Swindon, the others being three weeklies:
- Gazette and Herald
- Swindon Star
- Wiltshire Times
History
The Swindon Advertiser was founded in 1854 by William Morris (Grandfather of Desmond Morris). Originally intended to be a weekly paper, His aim was to produce a newspaper "that would act as a mouthpiece for the poor."[2] Morris decided to print one issue a month due to the Stamp Tax laws at the time only applying to newspapers published every 28 days.
It was originally printed as a broadsheet on February 6, 1854 and titled the "Swindon Advertiser and Monthly Record" using a hand press in his father's shop in Wood Street. Morris was sole writer, editor, printer and also delivered it personally, selling each copy for a penny. Using the inclusion of advertisements from local businesses, the second edition doubled in size.
Other newspaper companies were influenced by Morris' example of a penny priced paper and quickly produced their own in the region and ultimately throughout the country, resulting in the Government amending the Stamp Tax laws to a more favourable version. The paper became published weekly due to this change. In 1855 Morris could afford to move the publication to new premises in Victoria Road where it has remained. Morris funded the building of Newspaper House and added a printing shop to the rear.
Morris became infamous in some circles for his scathing and often vitriolic editorials,[2] with one editorial about an incident at Coate Water in 1861 leading to effigies of him and copies of his paper being burned in the town.[2]
The whole proceedings were so strongly condemned by the editor and proprietor of the "Swindon Advertiser" that he roused the irony of a section of Conservatives in the town and district to such an extent that men were employed to scour the district and collect all the "Advertisers" they possibly could. This having been done, a bon-fire was made in the Market Square, in which all these copies, also an effigy of the Editor himself, were committed to the flames.
— Frederick Large, [3]
In the same year, the paper was printed using Steam Power for the first time. Using a boiler and engine built in the Swindon Works of the Great Western Railway, they produced 5,000 copies a week.[4]
In 1870, it was renamed the "Swindon Advertiser and Wiltshire, Berkshire and Gloucestershire Chronicle".[4] William Morris died at the age of 65 in 1891 and the paper passed into the hands of his three sons, William, Samuel and Frank.[2]
Daily publishing began in 1898, with it being renamed the "Evening Advertiser" in 1926.[4]
The company also acquired the "North Wiltshire Herald" in 1922, now titled the "Gazette and Herald".[4]
Due to paper shortages, the paper became a tabloid during the 1940s,[5] switching back to the broadsheet format after the war. With the advances in technology, the paper moved to desktop publishing methods in the 80s and then on September 6, 1995 changed back to being published as a tabloid.[5]
In July 2005, the paper changed its name back to the "Swindon Advertiser" and announced its intention to publish two editions a day,[6] with this change came a price rise from 32p to 35p. In 2006 the 2 editions per day were dropped and only one daily edition was printed, the price remained at 35p. The paper went to print at 4am each morning and was generally on the shelves by 7am, distributed by the fleet of transit vans across Wiltshire.
In November 2008 the paper's cover price was increased from 35p to 38p.
Editors
William Morris
Mark Waldron
Dave King (2007 - present)
Photographer
Siobhan Boyle
Crime reporter
Ben Perrin
Health reporter
Hayley Court
Education reporter
Sarah Hilley
References
- ^ About Us swindonadvertiser.co.uk accessed December 11, 2006
- ^ a b c d e A newspaper to support the cause of the common man holdthefrontpage.co.uk accessed December 11, 2006
- ^ Large, Frederick (1970). "A Severe Winter". A Swindon Retrospect 1855-1930 (Fourth Edition ed.). United Kingdom: S.R. Publishers. ISBN 0-85409-592-6.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help) - ^ a b c d Mark Child. Swindon : An Illustrated History. United Kingdom: Breedon Books Publishing. ISBN 1-85983-322-5.
- ^ a b The changing face of the Evening Advertiser holdthefrontpage.co.uk accessed December 11, 2006
- ^ Name change for the Evening Advertiser holdthefrontpage.co.uk accessed December 11, 2006
External links
- swindonadvertiser.co.uk - Homepage