Belfast Telegraph

History

It was first published as the Belfast Evening Telegraph on 1 September 1870 by brothers William and George Baird. Its first edition cost half a penny and ran to four pages covering the Franco-Prussian War and local news.

The evening edition of the newspaper was originally called the "Sixth Late", and "Sixth Late Tele" was a familiar cry made by vendors in Belfast city centre in the past. Local editions were published for distribution to Enniskillen, Dundalk, Newry, and Derry.

Its competitors are The News Letter and The Irish News, and local editions of London-based red tops also compete in this market, in some cases selling at a cheaper price than the "Tele".

Sometimes described as having "unionist leanings", and operating an editorial policy supportive of "moderate unionism", the Belfast Telegraph was bought by the Dublin-based Independent News & Media group in March 2000.

The Belfast Telegraph was entirely broadsheet until 19 February 2005, when the Saturday morning edition was introduced and all Saturday editions were converted to compact. The weekday morning compact edition was launched on 22 March 2005.

In 2015, the Telegraph launched the magazine supplement Family Life.

The paper now publishes two editions daily, Belfast Telegraph final edition and the North West Telegraph which is distributed in Derry.

Its editor, since April 2020, is Eoin Brannigan.

Awards

The Belfast Telegraph was named as Best UK Regional Newspaper of the Year 2012 by the Society of Editors Regional Press Awards.

Circulation

Reflecting a decline in newspaper sales generally, circulation of the Belfast Telegraph has declined as of the early 21st century, from 109,571 for the period July to December 2002, to 31,340 for the same period in 2019.

References

References

1. Slattery, Laura. (24 April 2020). "Eoin Brannigan appointed new editor-in-chief of Belfast Telegraph". [[The Irish Times]].
2. Mayhew, Freddy. (24 April 2020). "Irish Daily Star's Eoin Brannigan named editor-in-chief of Belfast Telegraph and Sunday Life". Press Gazette.
3. Cunningham, Niall. (March 2013). "The Social Geography of Violence During the Belfast Troubles, 1920–22".
4. "The Belfast Telegraph".
5. Dyson, Steve. (23 April 2015). "Dyson at Large: Religion drives UK's biggest regional print market".
6. Gosling, Paul. "Belfast's Newcomers".
7. (17 March 2000). "Independent News and Media acquire the Belfast Telegraph". RTÉ News.
8. Unsworth, Monika. (3 August 1999). "Reading between the lines". [[The Irish Times]].
9. McGrath, Brendan. (9 February 2000). "Bids lodged for upcoming sale of 'Belfast Telegraph'". [[The Irish Times]].
10. (9 February 2005). "Belfast Telegraph expands Saturday coverage". Belfast Telegraph.
11. (21 March 2005). "Ulster wakes up to new early Telegraph". Belfast Telegraph.
12. (17 April 2015). "New Family Life Magazine Launches!". Belfast Telegraph.
13. Canning, Margaret. (28 May 2012). "Belfast Telegraph is named best regional daily in the UK at prestigious awards ceremony". Belfast Telegraph.
14. "Circulation – Jul to Dec 2002 – Belfast Telegraph – Evening".
15. "Circulation – Jul to Dec 2019 – Belfast Telegraph".
16. (2009). "ABC Figures: All regional dailies fall in circulation – Journalism News from". HoldtheFrontPage.
17. Greenslade, Roy. (18 February 2011). "Belfast Telegraph sales fall further". [[The Guardian]].
18. (23 August 2012). "Dailies down in latest Northern Ireland ABCs". [[Press Gazette]].
19. Greenslade, Roy. (22 August 2013). "Irish Times sale falls by 9% and Irish News overtakes the Belfast Telegraph". [[The Guardian]].
20. (25 February 2015). "UK regional dailies see sales decline by average of 10 per cent year on year". [[Press Gazette]].
21. (21 August 2015). "Ireland's newspapers suffer continuing slide in circulations". [[The Guardian ]].
22. (2016). "ABC Figures for island of Ireland announced – Journalism News from". HoldtheFrontPage.
23. "Circulation – Jul to Dec 2017 – Belfast Telegraph".
24. "Circulation – Jul to Dec 2018 – Belfast Telegraph".