The ''Cambridge Reporter'' was a local daily newspaper in

Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is dis ...

serving the community of

Cambridge, Ontario Cambridge is a city in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, located at the confluence of the Grand and Speed rivers. The city had a population of 138,479 as of the 2021 census. Along with Kitchener and Waterloo, Cambridge ...

, Canada. It was founded in 1846 as the ''Galt Reporter'' by Peter Jaffray, a Scottish settler who was originally from

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling, gd, Siorrachd Sruighlea) is a historic county and registration countyRegisters of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling. It borders Perth ...

and who immigrated to Galt in 1844. Before immigrating, Jaffray had worked at the

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

printing and publishing firm of

Oliver and Boyd Oliver and Boyd was a British publishing and printing firm that traded from 1807 or 1808 until 1990.

, then worked for twenty-two years at the ''

Shrewsbury Chronicle The ''Shrewsbury Chronicle'' is a local news newspaper in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. It is one of the oldest weekly newspapers in the United Kingdom, publishing its first edition in 1772. It is printed on Wednesday evening and is on sale ...

'' in

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'S ...

, England. Jaffray founded the ''Reporter'' after resigning from a predecessor newspaper named the ''Dumfries Courier'', which was the first newspaper published in Galt. James Ainslie was an early partner in the ''Reporters publication, and for some time it was published out of a building he owned, which was at the corner of Main Street and Ainslie Street in Galt. Ainslie and Jaffray had a falling out over political content in the newspaper, however, and the partnership was dissolved; Ainslie followed the Reform movement, while Jaffray was "an unyielding and sturdy Conservative." Afterward, Ainslie founded his own rival weekly newspaper, the '' Dumfries Reformer'', which was later purchased by James Young in 1853. In 1973 the paper changed its name to the ''Cambridge Reporter'' after the city of Galt merged with the towns of Preston and Hespeler, and parts of the townships of Waterloo and North Dumfries, to form Cambridge. In February 2002, the publication frequency was reduced from daily to twice-weekly. In 2003 the ''Cambridge Reporter'' was closed by parent Torstar Corporation, with a final paper published on September 19, 2003. The ''Cambridge Reporter'' at the time was Canada's oldest operating newspaper.

Metroland Media Group Metroland Media Group (also known as Community Brands) is a Canadian mass media publisher and distributor which primarily operates in Southern Ontario. A division of the publishing conglomerate Torstar Corporation, Metroland publishes more than ...

, owned by Torstar, operates the ''

Waterloo Region Record The ''Waterloo Region Record'' (formerly ''The Record'') is the daily newspaper covering Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada, including the cities of Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge, as well as the surrounding area. Since December 1998, the ''Rec ...

'' and the ''

Cambridge Times The ''Cambridge Times'' is a local newspaper in Southern Ontario, Canada, serving the community of Cambridge. It replaced the '' Cambridge Reporter'' as the local paper in 2003, when the latter was closed by its publisher. The ''Times'' is publ ...

'', which has expanded since the closure of the ''Cambridge Reporter''.

Ownership

*Thomson - ?? to July 1995 *Hollinger/Southam - July 1995 to July 1998 *SunMedia - July 1998 to Jan 1999 *Quebecor - Jan 1999 to March 1999 *Torstar - March 1999 to September 2003

Websites

A new online-only ''Cambridge Reporter'' was launched by Colin Carmichael in June 2008. Although it has the same name, the website is not affiliated with the original newspaper. Shortly thereafter Torstar relaunched its own news portal. News stories are not original to that publication but instead come from other newspapers such as the ''Record'' and the ''Cambridge Times''.

References

Publications established in 1846 Mass media in Cambridge, Ontario Defunct newspapers published in Ontario Torstar publications Daily newspapers published in Ontario 1846 establishments in Canada 2003 disestablishments in Ontario Publications disestablished in 2003 Defunct daily newspapers {{Canada-newspaper-stub