The Weekly News

Last updated
The Weekly News
The Weekly News.jpeg
The front page of the specially extended final edition
Type Weekly newspaper
Owner(s) DC Thomson
EditorBilly Higgins
Founded1855
LanguageEnglish
Ceased publication30 May 2020
Headquarters Dundee, Scotland

The Weekly News was a British national newspaper founded in 1855 and published every Wednesday [1] by the Dundee newspaper chain DC Thomson. [2] Billed as "the paper with the feelgood factor," it contained news and features on a broad range of subjects in six colour-coded sections: That's Real Life, Entertainment, Lifestyle, Puzzles, Short Stories and Sport.

The first Weekly News came out on 12 May 1855, and was a national miscellany news-sheet, primarily for working people or "artisans". It owes its origins, however, to an offshoot of the Dundee-based Northern Warder newspaper just over a year earlier. During the Crimean War, which resulted in the defeat of Russia by British, French and Turkish troops, a Saturday issue of The Warder began to be issued in April 1854 to carry war news. This edition ultimately gave rise to The Weekly News the following year.

Credit for the paper's birth is due to Robert Park who, four years later in 1859, would bring out Dundee's first daily newspaper, The Daily Argus. However, in 1855, Park saw an opening for a paper to serve the working classes on a Saturday. This induced him to publish a Saturday morning version of The Warder, which eventually became The Weekly News, and was the first weekly penny paper in Scotland. It originally had 10 or 12 pages and was roughly the size of today's compact, or tabloid-format, papers.

When W & DC Thomson was formed in 1886, The Weekly News was one of two papers – along with The Dundee Courier – which passed to the Thomsons' ownership from the Alexander family.

The circulation of the paper rose under the guidance of brothers David Couper and Frederick Thomson, from 60,000 in 1886 to 300,000 twenty-five years later.

As its circulation grew, The Weekly News was advertised as the biggest-selling paper in Scotland and also the biggest-selling paper outside London. Eventually, it sold to all parts of the British Isles in thirteen editions.

The paper eventually reached sales of 1.4 million at its peak in the 1970s. It was one of seven titles in DC Thomson history to sell over a million, and fourth in the list behind The Dandy , The Beano and The Sunday Post .

It was announced in April 2020 that the paper would close. The final edition, number 8,600, [3] was published on 30 May 2020, which coincided with the paper's 165th anniversary. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of British newspapers</span> Dates to the 17th century

The history of British newspapers begins in the 17th century with the emergence of regular publications covering news and gossip. The relaxation of government censorship in the late 17th century led to a rise in publications, which in turn led to an increase in regulation throughout the 18th century. The Times began publication in 1785 and became the leading newspaper of the early 19th century, before the lifting of taxes on newspapers and technological innovations led to a boom in newspaper publishing in the late 19th century. Mass education and increasing affluence led to new papers such as the Daily Mail emerging at the end of the 19th century, aimed at lower middle-class readers.

<i>Guelph Mercury</i> Defunct daily newspaper

The Guelph Mercury was an English language daily newspaper published in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It published a mix of community, national and international news and is owned by the Torstar Corporation. The newspaper, in many incarnations, was a part of the community since 1854. It was one of the oldest broadsheet newspapers in Ontario. Publication was discontinued in late January 2016.

<i>The Dandy</i> Scottish childrens comic

The Dandy was a Scottish children's comic magazine published by the Dundee based publisher DC Thomson. The first issue was printed in December 1937, making it the world's third-longest running comic, after Il Giornalino and Detective Comics. From August 2007 until October 2010, it was rebranded as Dandy Xtreme.

<i>The Sunday Post</i> Weekly newspaper published in Dundee, Scotland

The Sunday Post is a weekly newspaper published in Dundee, Scotland, by DC Thomson, and characterised by a mix of news, human interest stories and short features. The paper was founded in 1914 and has a wide circulation across Scotland, Northern Ireland, and parts of Northern England.

The Liverpool Post was a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The newspaper and its website ceased publication on 19 December 2013.

The Western Star was a weekly newspaper published for 206 years, from February 13, 1807, to January 17, 2013. It had been the oldest weekly newspaper in Ohio, second oldest of any sort in Ohio after the daily Chillicothe Gazette, and the oldest paper bearing its original name published west of the Appalachian Mountains until it ceased publication with its January 17, 2013 printed edition. It had been published on Thursdays by Cox Media Group Ohio, the communications company founded by former Ohio Governor James Middleton Cox. Its coverage area was primarily Lebanon and southern Warren County.

<i>The Press and Journal</i> Daily newspaper serving northern and highland Scotland

The Press and Journal is a daily regional newspaper serving northern and Highland Scotland including the cities of Aberdeen and Inverness. Established in 1747, it is Scotland's oldest daily newspaper, and one of the longest-running newspapers in the world.

<i>The Courier</i> (Dundee) Newspaper published by DC Thomson in Dundee, Scotland

The Courier is a newspaper published by DC Thomson in Dundee, Scotland. As of 2013, it is printed in six regional editions: Dundee, Angus & The Mearns, Fife, West Fife, Perthshire, and Stirlingshire. However, by 2020 this had been reduced to three regional editions for Perth and Perthshire; Angus and Dundee; and Fife. In the months July to December 2019 the average daily circulation of the Courier was 30,179 copies.

<i>Hull Daily Mail</i> Newspaper for Kingston upon Hull, England

The Hull Daily Mail is an English regional daily newspaper for Kingston upon Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The Hull Daily Mail has been circulated in various guises since 1885. A second edition, the East Riding Mail, covers East Yorkshire outside the city of Hull. The paper publishes everyday except Sunday.

The Spokesman-Review is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Spokane, Washington, the city's sole remaining daily publication. It has the third-highest readership among daily newspapers in the state, with most of its readership base in eastern Washington and northern Idaho.

<i>The Telegram</i> Newspaper in Newfoundland, Canada

The Telegram is a weekly newspaper published Fridays in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, though now printed outside the province.

The Evening Telegraph is a local newspaper in Dundee, Scotland. Known locally as the Tele, it is the sister paper of The Courier, also published by Dundee firm DC Thomson. It was founded in 1877. Dave Lord is the Evening Telegraph's current editor.

The Nottingham Post is an English tabloid newspaper which serves Nottingham, Nottinghamshire and parts of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire.

The Delaware Gazette is an American daily newspaper published in Delaware, Ohio. It is owned by AIM Media Midwest.

The Portsmouth Herald is a six-day daily newspaper serving greater Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Its coverage area also includes the municipalities of Greenland, New Castle, Newington and Rye, New Hampshire; and Eliot, Kittery, Kittery Point and South Berwick, Maine.

<i>The Express-Times</i> Newspaper based in Easton, Pennsylvania

The Express-Times is a daily newspaper based in Easton, Pennsylvania. The newspaper provides national news and extensive local news coverage of the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855, The Express-Times is the longest continuously published newspaper in the Lehigh Valley.

The Daily News, historically a successor of The Inquirer and The Inquirer and Commercial News, was an afternoon daily English language newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia, from 1882 to 1990, though its origin is traceable from 1840.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MNA Media</span> Newspaper publishing company

The Midland News Association is an England-based newspaper publishing company. Established in 1874, the Midland News Association is still one of Britain's largest independent media agencies. It publishes one of the UK's biggest-selling regional daily newspapers, the Express & Star, and its sister title, the Shropshire Star, as well as eight weekly titles and the monthly The Farmer newspaper and Shropshire Magazine.

The Buteman was a weekly tabloid newspaper serving the Isle of Bute in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. It first published in 1854 and ceased in 2019. The final publisher was Angus County Press Ltd, a company within the Scotland and North East England division of JPIMedia.

The Nanaimo Daily News was a Canadian daily newspaper published weekdays in Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island in British Columbia for 141 years until ceasing publication in January 2016.

References

  1. "The Weekly News - best read of the week!" . Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  2. Owner's perspective Archived November 1, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  3. @dct_media (27 May 2020). "After 165 years and 8,600 issues, today sees publication of the final edition of The Weekly News. The final issue i…" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  4. "'Iconic' Weekly News to close after 165 years". BBC News. 23 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.