Guelph Mercury
 |
|
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | Metroland Media Group (Torstar Corporation) |
| Publisher | Donna Luelo |
| Editor | Phil Andrews |
| Founded | 1853, as Wellington Mercury |
| Headquarters | 8-14 Macdonell Street Guelph, Ontario N1H 6P7 |
| Circulation | 12,863 weekdays 13,028 Saturdays in 2010[1] |
| Website | guelphmercury.com |
The Guelph Mercury is an English language daily newspaper published in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It publishes a mix of community, national and international news and is owned by the Torstar Corporation. The newspaper, in many incarnations, has been a part of the community since 1854. It is one of the oldest broadsheet newspapers in Ontario.[citation needed]
History[edit]
The Wellington Mercury was founded in 1853, and published weekly by owner George Keeling.
A competing paper was started in 1854, named the Guelph Advertiser. It was published weekly as well.
In 1862, Toronto newspaperman and MP James Innes took over the editorship of the Guelph Advertiser and shortly thereafter formed a partnership with John McLagan, owner of the competing weekly newspaper the Guelph Mercury.
The two papers merged to form the Mercury and Advertiser.
The Mercury was expanded into a daily newspaper in 1867. Among its editors was the future best-selling novellist Thomas B. Costain who worked there from 1908 to 1910.
The Guelph Mercury has since had numerous owners. Innes sold his share in the newspaper in 1905 to J. Innes McIntosh, who also bought the Guelph Herald, a competing daily newspaper, in 1924. McIntosh then sold his share in 1929 to James Playfair, who sold the paper in the late 1940s to Thomson Newspapers. Thomson remained owner for half a century, until Hollinger Inc. purchased the paper in 1995. Sun Media purchased the paper in 1998 and then resold it to Torstar Corporation.
Present[edit]
The Guelph Mercury is published six days a week by Metroland Media Group, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The newspaper also publishes a free weekly roundup as well as various other special publications. A magazine, Guelph Life, was cancelled as a cost-cutting measure in 2009 but restored in 2015. The Guelph Mercury is one of few Torstar newspapers still to have their own presses since the Mercury's sister paper, the Waterloo Region Record is printed at another Torstar site, The Hamilton Spectator in Hamilton, Ontario. In February 2009, Torstar announced layoffs across the chain, including 13 newsroom staff at the Guelph Mercury. According to the announcement, copy editing and page production of the paper will be transferred to the Waterloo Region Record, reducing the editorial staff of the paper to two managers and 8 reporter–photographers.[2]
The Guelph Mercury's Goss Urbanite Press was shut down on February 7, 2014 at which time printing moved to the Hamilton Spectator.
Both the Guelph Tribune and Guelph Mercury are owned and published by Metroland Media Group but keep separate newsrooms and operations.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Canadian Circulations Audit Board Circulation Report for the year ending December 2010. Retrieved February 16, 2012. (registration required)
- ^ http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/BreakingNews/article/444110
