The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of the 20th century. It is one of the French-speaking province's last two English-language dailies; the other is the ''

Sherbrooke Record ''The Record'' is the only daily (Monday–Friday) English language newspaper based in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. It serves the Eastern Townships region of that province. It is one of the French-speaking province's last two English-language dail ...

'', which serves the anglophone community in

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( ; ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional cou ...

and the

Eastern Townships The Eastern Townships (french: Cantons de l'Est) is an historical administrative region in southeastern Quebec, Canada. It lies between the St. Lawrence Lowlands and the American border, and extends from Granby in the southwest, to Drummondv ...

southeast of Montreal. Founded in 1778 by Fleury Mesplet, ''The Gazette'' is Quebec's oldest daily newspaper and Canada's oldest daily newspaper still in publication. The oldest newspaper overall is the English-language '' Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph'', which was established in 1764 and is published weekly.

History

Fleury Mesplet founded a French-language weekly newspaper called ''La Gazette du commerce et littéraire, pour la ville et district de Montréal'' on June 3, 1778. It was the first entirely French-language newspaper in Canada. The paper did not accept advertising aside for the various books that Mesplet also published. The articles were meant to promote discussion, and it focused on

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...

and

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

, as well as various anecdotal articles,

poems Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings ...

and letters.

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading int ...

encouraged Mesplet to found the newspaper to persuade Canadians to join the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

; Mesplet, an immigrant from France, had previously lived in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

and supported the Americans when they occupied Montreal during the war. The newspaper was shut down in 1779 when Mesplet and the editor, Valentin Jautard, were arrested for

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, esta ...

and imprisoned for three years. Mesplet began a second weekly, ''The Montreal Gazette / La Gazette de Montréal'', on August 25, 1785, which had a dual French-English bilingual format similar to that used by the '' Quebec Gazette''. Its offices were located in the house of Joseph Lemoyne de Longueuil on rue de la Capitale. French columns were in the left-hand column and English columns in the right-hand column. The columns were originally written in French and translated to English by Valentin Jautard, who served as editor until his death in 1787. The columns were mostly on education, religion, and literature, and after 1788 on politics. Foreign and local news made up the rest of the paper. The paper took a Voltairian and anticlerical stance, wanted Quebec to have its own legislative assembly and sought to import the principles of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

to Quebec. The newspaper also introduced advertising and announcements, taking up half of four pages. It is the direct ancestor of the current newspaper. The newspaper did well, and Mesplet's operation moved to Notre-Dame Street in 1787. Mesplet continued to operate the newspaper until his death in 1794. Following Mesplet's death, his widow published the newspaper for several issues, but the paper ceased publication soon after. Two rivals, Louis Roy and Edward Edwards fought over the right to publish the newspaper over the course of two years. Edwards eventually won the printing press and newspaper and continued operations until his assets were seized in 1808. The newspaper was then the property of James Brown for fourteen years. In 1822, it was sold to businessman Thomas Andrew Turner who converted into an English-only paper in 1822. Under Turner, ''The Gazette'' identified with the interests of anglophone business leaders in their fight with the Patriote movement. On April 25, 1849, ''The Gazette'' published a special edition in which its editor-in-chief, James Moir Ferres, called the "

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

" residents to arms after Royal Assent of a compensation law for Lower Canada. This was among the main events leading to the burning of the Parliament Buildings. Ferres was subsequently arrested, though soon released on bail and set free without trial. In 1939, ''The Gazette'' hired its first editorial cartoonist – John Collins, who worked a term of 43 years. In 1968, ''The Gazette'' was acquired by the Southam newspaper chain, which owned major dailies across Canada. For many years, ''The Gazette'' was caught in a three-way fight for the English newspaper audience in Montreal with the tabloid ''

Montreal Herald This is a list of defunct newspapers of Quebec. 1770–1799 * ''La Gazette du commerce et littéraire pour la Ville & District de Montréal'', 1778, Montréal, Fleury Mesplet, printer, and Valentin Jautard, editor and journalist * '' La Gazette ...

'' and the broadsheet ''

Montreal Star ''The Montreal Star'' was an English-language Canadian newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It closed in 1979 in the wake of an eight-month pressmen's strike. It was Canada's largest newspaper until the 1950s and remained the domina ...

''. ''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 FP Publications chain (which owned the ''

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Winnipeg Free Press'' (or WFP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, national, and international news, as well as ...

'' and, at the time, ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

''), endured a long strike and ceased publication in 1979, less than a year after the strike was settled. Gazette reader

In 1988, a competing English-language daily, the ''

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 ...

'', 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'' closed in 1989, after less than two years in operation, ''The Gazette'' kept its Sunday edition going until August 2010. 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.

Today

Today, ''The Gazette''s audience is primarily Quebec's English-speaking community. ''The Gazette'' is one of the three dailies published in Montreal, the other two being French-language newspapers: '' Le Journal de Montréal'' and '' Le Devoir''. ('' La Presse'' is only published digitally since 2018.) In recent years, ''The Gazette'' has stepped up efforts to reach bilingual francophone professionals and adjusted its coverage accordingly. The current editor-in-chief is Lucinda Chodan. The deputy editor is Basem Boshra and the associate managing editor is Jeff Blond. Montreal gazette logo

On April 30, 2013, Postmedia Network announced that it would be eliminating the role of publisher at each of its newspapers, including ''The Gazette''. Instead, the company's 10 newspapers were overseen by regional publishers, one each for the Pacific, the Prairies and eastern Canada. Alan Allnutt, who was the publisher of ''The Gazette'' at the time, became the regional publisher of Postmedia's

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

and

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

papers. Gerry Nott, publisher of the ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris, it was renamed the ''Citizen'' in 1851. The news ...

'', now also oversees ''The Gazette'', the '' Windsor Star'' and Postmedia's flagship title, the ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

''. On May 5, 2014, it was announced that printing of ''The Gazette'' would be contracted out to Transcontinental Media in August 2014 and that the existing Notre-Dame-de-Grâce facility would be closed, resulting in a loss of 54 full-time and 61 part-time positions at the paper. The August 16, 2014, issue was the final issue printed by the Postmedia-owned facility. On October 21, 2014, ''The Gazette'' was relaunched as part of the Postmedia Reimagined project, adopting a similar look, and a similar suite of digital platforms, to its sister paper, the ''Ottawa Citizen'', which had relaunched earlier in the year. As part of the relaunch, the paper was officially renamed the ''Montreal Gazette'', reflecting its longstanding common name outside its city of publication (as well as its Web domain, ''montrealgazette.com''). The paper had not included Montreal in its masthead in several years.

Sections

Weekdays

*Section A — Local, national and international news, opinion columns, editorials, editorial cartoon, letters to the editor, business news, sports news, arts and entertainment news *Section B — Sports (Mondays and Thursdays), Business (Tuesdays), Food (Wednesdays), Movies (Fridays) *Section C — Driving and classifieds (Mondays)

Saturday

*Section A — Local, national and international news *Section B — Saturday Extra: Feature stories and opinion columns, editorials, editorial cartoon, letters to the editor *Section C — Business news and weather *Section D — Sports *Section E — Culture *Section F — Homefront, classified, working *Section G — Travel *Section H — Weekend Life *Section W — Diversions

Editors-in-chief

* Mark Harrison (1977–1989) * Norman Webster (1989–1993) * Joan Fraser (1993–1996) * Alan Allnutt (1996–2000) *

Peter Stockland Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

(2000–2004) * Andrew Phillips (2004–2009) * Raymond Brassard (2010–2013) * Lucinda Chodan (2013–present)

Present personalities

Mike Boone Mike Boone (born June 30, 1995) is an American football running back for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Cincinnati and signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 201 ...

Bill Brownstein Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pla ...

Josh Freed Josh Freed is a Canadian writer, director and actor. He has won two Chris Awards for Best North American Current Affairs Documentary. In Canada, Freed has been nominated for three Gemini Awards, three Writers Guild of Canada Awards and a Genie Aw ...

* Pat Hickey *

L. Ian MacDonald L. Ian MacDonald (born 1947) is a Canadian writer, broadcaster, and diplomat. Biography MacDonald graduated from Concordia University (Loyola) in 1969 with an honours degree in political science. He has been a columnist for the Montreal Gazette ...

Terry Mosher Christopher Terry Mosher, (born 11 November 1942) is a Canadian political cartoonist for the ''Montreal Gazette''. He draws under the name Aislin, a rendition of the name of his eldest daughter Aislinn (without the second 'n'). Aislin's drawing ...

(Aislin) * Joseph A. Schwarcz * Jack Todd *

Herb Zurkowsky In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnish (food), garnishing food, ...

Past personalities

* Nick Auf der Maur * Dave Bist * Ted Blackman *

Richard Burnett Richard Burnett, also known as Bugs Burnett, is a Canadian writer, editor, journalist, and columnist. He is known as an often controversial fixture of the Montreal media, with his writing sometimes attracting attention internationally. His column ...

* Edgar Andrew Collard * John Collins * Peggy Curran *

Michael Farber Michael Farber (born September 1951) is an American author and sports journalist, and was a writer with ''Sports Illustrated'' from 1994 to 2014. He covered mostly ice hockey and olympic sports. Before 1994, Farber spent 15 years as a sports col ...

* Red Fisher * John Griffin * William Johnson *

Dane Lanken Dane Lanken (December 9, 1945 – March 3, 2023) was a Canadian journalist and author. Career Lanken was a film critic for the ''Montreal Gazette'' from 1967 to 1977, and was then a freelance journalist who wrote regularly for ''Canadian Geogr ...

Ken McKenzie Ken McKenzie (August 19, 1923April 9, 2003) was a Canadian newspaper publisher and sports journalist. He served as publicity director of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1946 to 1963. In 1947, he published the first NHL press and radio gu ...

* Myer Newell Negru * Mordecai Richler *

Helen Rochester Helen may refer to: People * Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world * Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress * Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Places * Helen, G ...

* Tommy Schnurmacher * Eric Siblin *

Paul Wells Paul Wells is a Canadian journalist and pundit. He was briefly a national affairs columnist for the ''Toronto Star'' in 2016–2017. Before that, he was a columnist for ''Maclean's'' for thirteen years; his column originally appeared in the back ...

Robert Smeaton White Robert Smeaton White (March 15, 1856 – December 5, 1944) was a Canadian journalist and political figure. He represented Cardwell from 1888 to 1895, Mount Royal from 1925 to 1935 and Saint-Antoine—Westmount from 1935 to 1940 as a Conservati ...

References

External links

*
Official mobile websiteDigital microfilm archive 1878–1986 from Google news archive.Bicentennial issue
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montreal Gazette Newspapers published in Montreal Postmedia Network publications English-language newspapers published in Quebec Publications established in 1778 Daily newspapers published in Quebec 1778 establishments in the Province of Quebec (1763–1791)