Greenock Telegraph

The Greenock Telegraph is a local daily newspaper serving Inverclyde (the council area containing the towns of Gourock, Greenock and Port Glasgow), Scotland.

Founded in 1857, it was the first halfpenny daily newspaper in Britain. It was for a time Greenock Telegraph and Clyde Shipping Gazette, owing to the massive amount of maritime traffic moving in and out of Greenock's harbours. This information is still published, but only as a column entry.

Originally based in Charles Street, Greenock, the printing works were bombed during the Greenock Blitz in May 1941. However the printers worked on to produce emergency editions, despite sustaining multiple cuts from the shattered glass lodged in the presses.

It is known locally as The Tele (although this is pronounced Tilly). Several features such as Viator (Latin for traveller) have formed part of the Telegraph for decades. Although it concerns itself primarily with news from Inverclyde, West Renfrewshire and North Ayrshire it occasionally runs national stories on its front and inner pages.

In 2016, citing "challenging trading conditions" Newsquest Scotland closed the former departments of Romanes Media Group in Clydebank and Greenock, which housed its art desk and sub-editing operations, while its credit control and accountancy departments in Greenock also closed with the loss of a further four jobs; since then, the Telegraph has been printed off-site at Newsquest's press at Carmyle, just southeast of Glasgow. The building that housed the original printing press was stripped out and sold to a local car sales dealership.

In 2022, the newspaper's main office was significantly remodelled with most internal structures being stripped out, editorial and advertising teams relocated, and the remaining building being sub-let as hireable storage space. The Crawfurd Street building was finally closed in October 2025 and the remaining staff moved to premises rented from Riverside Inverclyde at Ladyburn Business Centre, Pottery Street, Greenock. The building has since been repurposed with the former pre-press area and car park now operating as a valeting centre, and the upper offices are let out to local businesses (currently a beauty salon.)

The newspaper archive is held at the Watt Institution who have original copies dating back to 1857 which can be viewed on microfilm.

The most recent local Editor was David Goodwin, formerly the title's Court Reporter. Since his departure in 2024, the title is overseen by Newsquest Group Editors, Gillian Murphy and Craig Borland. DS https://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/author/journalists/

The current average daily readership is 4116, falling from its previous figure of 4691. https://www.abc.org.uk/product/9822