The Gazette (Montreal)
Encyclopedia
The Gazette, often called the Montreal Gazette to avoid ambiguity, is the only English-language daily newspaper
published in Montreal
, Quebec
, Canada
, with three other daily English newspapers all having shut down at different times during the second half of the 20th century.
, founded the French-language newspaper called La Gazette du commerce et littéraire, pour la ville et district de Montréal. This paper was shut down in 1779, with Mesplet and the editor, Valentin Jautard, being imprisoned. Mesplet began a second weekly in 1785, La Gazette de Montréal, which was the direct ancestor of the current newspaper. The Gazette evolved from a French-language newspaper to a dual French-English format to the present English-only paper.
For many years, The Gazette was caught in a three-way fight for the English newspaper audience in Montreal with the tabloid Montreal Herald and the broadsheet Montreal Star
. The Gazette was second in circulation to the Montreal Star, which sold more newspapers in the city and had a significant national reputation in the first half of the 20th century. The Montreal Herald closed in 1957, after publishing for 146 years. The Montreal Star, part of the Free Press chain (which owned The Globe and Mail
and the Winnipeg Free Press
), was hit by a long strike action
and ceased publication in 1979, less than a year after the strike was settled.
In 1988, a competing English-language daily, The Montreal Daily News
, was launched. The Montreal Daily News adopted a tabloid format and introduced a Sunday edition, forcing The Gazette to respond. After The Montreal Daily News folded in 1989, after less than two years in operation, The Gazette kept its Sunday edition going until August 2010.
In 1968, The Gazette was acquired by the Southam newspaper chain, which owned major dailies across Canada. In 1996, the Southam papers were bought by Conrad Black
's Hollinger Inc.
Then in August, 2000, Hollinger sold the Southam newspapers, including The Gazette, to Canwest Global Communications Corp., controlled by the Winnipeg-based Asper family. In 2010, a new media group, Postmedia, bought the Gazette and other papers from the financially troubled Canwest.
To celebrate its 150th anniversary, The Gazette published a facsimile
of one of its earliest issues. Much effort was made to use a type of paper that imitated 18th century paper, with fake chainlines and laidlines to make the paper look old.
, Le Journal de Montréal
, and Le Devoir
), The Gazette has the third largest circulation, behind Le Journal de Montréal and La Presse.
In recent years, The Gazette has stepped up efforts to reach bilingual francophone professionals and adjusted its coverage accordingly. The publisher of The Gazette is Alan Allnutt, who served as editor-in-chief of the paper from 1996 to 2000. The current executive editor is Raymond Brassard, while the managing editor is Catherine Wallace.
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
published in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, with three other daily English newspapers all having shut down at different times during the second half of the 20th century.
History
In 1778, Fleury MespletFleury Mesplet
Fleury Mesplet was a French-born Canadian printer.Born in Marseille and apprenticed in Lyon, he emigrated to London in 1773 where he set up shop in Covent Garden. In 1774 he emigrated to Philadelphia; it is thought that he may have been persuaded to do so by Benjamin Franklin...
, founded the French-language newspaper called La Gazette du commerce et littéraire, pour la ville et district de Montréal. This paper was shut down in 1779, with Mesplet and the editor, Valentin Jautard, being imprisoned. Mesplet began a second weekly in 1785, La Gazette de Montréal, which was the direct ancestor of the current newspaper. The Gazette evolved from a French-language newspaper to a dual French-English format to the present English-only paper.
For many years, The Gazette was caught in a three-way fight for the English newspaper audience in Montreal with the tabloid Montreal Herald and the broadsheet Montreal Star
Montreal Star
The Montreal Star was an English-language Canadian newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It folded in 1979 following an eight-month pressmen's strike....
. The Gazette was second in circulation to the Montreal Star, which sold more newspapers in the city and had a significant national reputation in the first half of the 20th century. The Montreal Herald closed in 1957, after publishing for 146 years. The Montreal Star, part of the Free Press chain (which owned The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
and the Winnipeg Free Press
Winnipeg Free Press
The Winnipeg Free Press is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Founded in 1872, as the Manitoba Free Press, it is the oldest newspaper in western Canada. It is the newspaper with the largest readership in the province....
), was hit by a long strike action
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
and ceased publication in 1979, less than a year after the strike was settled.
In 1988, a competing English-language daily, The Montreal Daily News
Montreal Daily News
The Montreal Daily News was a short-lived English language Canadian daily newspaper in Quebec. Quebecor founder Pierre Péladeau and British tabloid publisher Robert Maxwell teamed up to launch a competing English-language newspaper against The Gazette...
, was launched. The Montreal Daily News adopted a tabloid format and introduced a Sunday edition, forcing The Gazette to respond. After The Montreal Daily News folded in 1989, after less than two years in operation, The Gazette kept its Sunday edition going until August 2010.
Conrad Black
Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour, OC, KCSG, PC is a Canadian-born member of the British House of Lords, and a historian, columnist and publisher, who was for a time the third largest newspaper magnate in the world. Lord Black controlled Hollinger International, Inc...
's Hollinger Inc.
Hollinger Inc.
Hollinger Inc. was a Canadian media company based in Toronto. It was created by the Canadian businessman Conrad Black as a holding company for his media interests after he acquired control of The Daily Telegraph in 1986. It was the parent company of Chicago-based Hollinger International, whose...
Then in August, 2000, Hollinger sold the Southam newspapers, including The Gazette, to Canwest Global Communications Corp., controlled by the Winnipeg-based Asper family. In 2010, a new media group, Postmedia, bought the Gazette and other papers from the financially troubled Canwest.
To celebrate its 150th anniversary, The Gazette published a facsimile
Facsimile
A facsimile is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from other forms of reproduction by attempting to replicate the source as accurately as possible in terms of scale,...
of one of its earliest issues. Much effort was made to use a type of paper that imitated 18th century paper, with fake chainlines and laidlines to make the paper look old.
Today
Today, The Gazettes audience is primarily Quebec's official English-speaking minority, which accounts for about 13 percent of the population of the province. Out of the four dailies published in Montreal, the other three being the French-language newspapers (La PresseLa Presse (Canada)
La Presse, founded in 1884, is a French-language Monday-Saturday newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is owned today by Groupe Gesca, a subsidiary of Power Corporation of Canada. The Sunday version was dropped in 2009.-Description:...
, Le Journal de Montréal
Le Journal de Montréal
Le Journal de Montréal is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and is the largest-circulation French-language newspaper in North America. Established by Pierre Péladeau in 1964, it is owned by the Sun Media division of Quebecor Media. It is also Canada's largest tabloid...
, and Le Devoir
Le Devoir
Le Devoir is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and the rest of Canada. It was founded by journalist, politician, and nationalist Henri Bourassa in 1910....
), The Gazette has the third largest circulation, behind Le Journal de Montréal and La Presse.
In recent years, The Gazette has stepped up efforts to reach bilingual francophone professionals and adjusted its coverage accordingly. The publisher of The Gazette is Alan Allnutt, who served as editor-in-chief of the paper from 1996 to 2000. The current executive editor is Raymond Brassard, while the managing editor is Catherine Wallace.
Past and present personalities
|
Red Fisher (journalist) Red Fisher is a Canadian sports journalist whose columns focus on the National Hockey League and its Montreal Canadiens team.... William Johnson (author) William Johnson, CM is a Canadian academic, journalist and author.Johnson's mother was francophone and his father anglophone and Johnson himself speaks both English and French... Dane Lanken Dane Lanken is a Canadian journalist.He was a film critic for the Montreal Gazette from 1967 to 1977, and has since been a freelance journalist who writes regularly for Canadian Geographic, among other publications.... L. Ian MacDonald - Biography :MacDonald graduated from Concordia University in 1969 with an honours degree in political science. He has been a columnist for the Montreal Gazette and the defunct Montreal Daily News, and has been a sessional lecturer at Concordia University.... |
Mordecai Richler Mordecai Richler, CC was a Canadian Jewish author, screenwriter and essayist. A leading critic called him "the great shining star of his Canadian literary generation" and a pivotal figure in the country's history. His best known works are The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Barney's Version,... Tommy Schnurmacher Tommy Schnurmacher is a Canadian radio talk-show host, journalist and political commentator. He is the host of "The Tommy Scnurmacher Show" on CJAD-AM in Montreal, Quebec.-Early life and education:... Joseph A. Schwarcz Joseph A. Schwarcz, known to his students, and many via his science popularization efforts as Dr. Joe, has a PhD in chemistry and is a professor at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. He is the director of McGill's Office for Science & Society, which is dedicated to demystifying science for the... Jack Todd Jack Todd is a sports columnist for the Montreal Gazette since 1986. Todd was an American citizen who deserted from the U.S. Army to avoid being sent to fight during the Vietnam War... Norman Webster Norman Eric Webster is a Canadian journalist: a former editor-in-chief of The Globe and Mail and The Gazette.Born in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, he was educated at Bishop's College School and received his B.A. from Bishop's University. He was a Rhodes Scholar at St John's College, Oxford... Paul Wells Paul Wells is a Canadian journalist and pundit, currently working as a columnist for Maclean's. His column previously appeared in the back page slot famously occupied for many years by Allan Fotheringham, but is now kept at the front of the magazine with other columns.- Background :Wells was born... Adrian Waller Adrian Waller , was a magazine journalist and author. In his writing career he earned a living from nearly 600 articles in magazines, and from newspaper columns that appeared in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Japan... |
Montreal newspapers
- La PresseLa Presse (Canada)La Presse, founded in 1884, is a French-language Monday-Saturday newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is owned today by Groupe Gesca, a subsidiary of Power Corporation of Canada. The Sunday version was dropped in 2009.-Description:...
- Le Journal de MontréalLe Journal de MontréalLe Journal de Montréal is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and is the largest-circulation French-language newspaper in North America. Established by Pierre Péladeau in 1964, it is owned by the Sun Media division of Quebecor Media. It is also Canada's largest tabloid...
- Montreal Daily NewsMontreal Daily NewsThe Montreal Daily News was a short-lived English language Canadian daily newspaper in Quebec. Quebecor founder Pierre Péladeau and British tabloid publisher Robert Maxwell teamed up to launch a competing English-language newspaper against The Gazette...
(defunct) - The Montreal Star (defunct)