Coventry Telegraph

Coventry Telegraph

Coventry Telegraph
Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Tabloid
Owner(s)	Trinity Mirror
Editor	Keith Perry
Founded	1891
Political alignment	Neutral, Populist
Headquarters	Coventry, England
Circulation	21,080 (Print & Digital; 30 March - 26 April 2015) 49,177 (Daily Average Unique Browsers; 1-30 April 2015)
Website	http://coventrytelegraph.net http://twitter.com/covtelegraph http://facebook.com/coventrytelegraph

The Coventry Telegraph is a local English tabloid newspaper. Founded originally as The Midland Daily Telegraph in 1891 by William Isaac Iliffe, it was Coventry's first daily newspaper. Sold for half a penny, it was a four-page broadsheet newspaper. It changed its name to the Coventry Evening Telegraph on 17 November 1941, and then the Coventry Telegraph on 2 October 2006 (which reflected its switch to morning publication).

The newspaper became a part of the then Mirror Group (prior to its merger with Trinity to become Trinity Mirror), in 1997. In April 2015, the publication had a paid daily circulation of just over 21,000 copies, but an daily traffic of over 49,000 unique users.

Historical copies of the Coventry Telegraph, dating back to 1914, are available to search and view in digitised form at The British Newspaper Archive.

History

15 November 1940 was the only day that the newspaper was unable to publish, due to the blitz raid on the city.

From 1946 until the end of April 2004, a separate sports publication, The Pink, was printed every Saturday evening. It provided coverage of sport from the Midlands, as well as national and international sport. The fortunes of Coventry City F.C. played a prominent role in The Pink'. With the 1998-99 football season, The Pink became the first regional evening newspaper to provide same day reports from all FA Premiership matches.

The headquarters for a significant period of the paper's history was at 157 Corporation Street, Coventry, CV1 1FP. The foundation stone was laid by the then proprietor, Lord Iliffe G.B.E, on 21 November 1957.

In 1985, the local independent radio station (then known as Mercia Sound) and the Telegraph formed the Snowball Appeal, a charitable organisation whose aim is to raise money to help sick and needy children in Coventry and Warwickshire.

After 96 years of ownership by the Illife Family, American Ralph Ingersoll II bought out the controlling interest of the Iliffe family's newspapers. However, in 1991, the managing director, Chris Oakley, led a management buy-out creating Midland Independent Newspapers. In 1997, Midland Independent Newspapers was sold for £297 million to Mirror Group. In 1999, Mirror Group merged with the regional newspaper group Trinity.

From Monday 2 October 2006, the publication changed from an evening paper to a morning paper. To reflect this change, the newspaper's name changed to simply Coventry Telegraph. The switch to a morning paper saw a change in emphasis with the printed edition concentrating on exclusive and community news, leaving breaking news to its website.

The summer of 2012 saw the paper move its headquarters to Thomas Yeoman House at Coventry Canal Basin, in Leicester Row. The decision by the proprietors was a consequence of the changing patterns of work at the paper (and the industry in general). With the number of staff reduced and no longer needing the space for the discontinued printing presses, it was decided that a smaller, modern headquarters was now necessary.

In the summer of 2014, the newspaper began a social media campaign entitled #bringCityhome, which resulted in Coventry City F.C.'s return to the city following their exile at Sixfields in Northampton. The campaign drew praise from national media and figures within the football world. It was shortlisted at The Press Gazette British Journalism Awards 2014 in the Campaign of the Year category and Simon Gilbert, who spearheaded the campaign, was nominated for Sports Journalist of the Year.

Editors

Current Editor-in-Chief

The current Editor-in-chief of the Coventry Telegraph is Keith Perry. He has been in post since January 2015, joining from Trinity Mirror Midlands stablemate the Birmingham Mail, where he held the position of Football Editor. Perry previously worked at the Coventry Telegraph as sports editor .

Past editors

Below is an incomplete list of editors of the Coventry Telegraph and Coventry Evening Telegraph:

• Alun Thorne (2012-14)
• Darren Parkin (2009-12)
• Dave Brookes (2009)
• Alan Kirby (1998-2008)
• Dan Mason (1995 -?)
• Neil Benson (1991 - 1993)
• Geoffrey Elliot (1980 - 1990)
• Keith Whetstone (1970 - 1980)

Publisher

Coventry Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Trinity Mirror Midlands Ltd (which itself is owned by Trinity Mirror Regionals Ltd and ultimately part of the Trinity Mirror Group) is the publisher of the Telegraph and a number of local publications. The managing director is Simon Edgley.

Editions

The Telegraph is published Monday to Saturday in the following editions:

• City (Coventry Telegraph)
• Nuneaton (Nuneaton Telegraph)
• Warwickshire (Warwickshire Telegraph)

Sister Publications

Current:

• The Hinckley Times
• The Loughborough Echo

Former:

• The Bedworth Echo (closed 2009)
• The Coventry Times (formerly The Coventry Citizen) (closed 2015)
• Coventry Pink (closed 2004)
• The Hinckley Herald & Classified Journal (closed 2011)
• The Kenilworth, Warwick & Royal Leamington Spa Times (formerly The Kenilworth Citizen) (closed 2011)
• Midland Farm Ad (now closed)
• The Nuneaton Tribune (formerly the People's Tribune (1895), Midland Counties Tribune (1903) and Nuneaton Evening Tribune (1957)) (Closed September 2015)
• The Rugby Times (closed 2009)

External links

• Coventry Telegraph website
• The Hinckley Times website
• The Loughborough Echo website
• Trinity Mirror Midlands website
• Trinity Mirror website