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The ''Coventry Telegraph'' is a local English tabloid newspaper. It is published by Coventry Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Reach PLC Midlands Ltd, along with a number of other local publications.


Publication history

It was founded as ''The Midland Daily Telegraph'' in 1891 by William Isaac Iliffe (1843–1917), and was
Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
's first
daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...
. Sold for half a penny, it was a four-page
broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of in height. Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper ...
newspaper. In 1917, ownership of the paper changed to Iliffe's son Edward Iliffe (later 1st Baron Iliffe), upon the father's death. The only day the newspaper was unable to publish was 15 November 1940, owing to the blitz raid on the city. It changed its name to the ''Coventry Evening Telegraph'' on 17 November 1941. 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 Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
season, ''The Pink'' became the first regional evening newspaper to provide same-day reports from all FA Premiership matches. In 2016, ''Coventry Telegraph'' launched a new weekly podcast, centred around goings on at Coventry City F.C., titled 'The Pink'. In the 1970s, the ''Evening Telegraph'' had a regular consumer page called ''Watchdog'', which was edited by Ken Burgess. Coincidentally, the BBC used the same name for what became its long-running ''Watchdog'' series. In 1985, the local independent radio station (then known as
Mercia Sound Hits Radio Coventry & Warwickshire, formerly Free Radio Coventry & Warwickshire, is an Independent Local Radio station based in Birmingham, England, owned and operated by Bauer Radio, Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Co ...
) 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 Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...
. In 1987, after 96 years of ownership by the Illife family, American Ralph Ingersoll II bought 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, the newspaper became a part of the then-Mirror Group when Midland Independent Newspapers was sold for £297 million. In 1999, Mirror Group merged with the regional newspaper group Trinity. Trinity Mirror is now known as
Reach plc Reach plc (known as Trinity Mirror between 1999 and 2018) is a British newspaper, magazine and digital publisher. It is one of the UK's biggest newspaper groups, publishing 240 regional papers in addition to the national ''Daily Mirror'', '' ...
. On 2 October 2006, the ''Telegraph'' simply became the ''Coventry Telegraph'', reflecting its switch to a morning publication. 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. In the summer of 2014, the newspaper began a social media campaign entitled #bringCityhome, which helped ensure 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.


Headquarters

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 the summer of 2012, the paper moved 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, more modern headquarters was now necessary. In May 2017 the Corporation Street site was opened to the public so they could view it almost as it had been left when it closed. When the exhibition ends in July 2018 Complex Developments Ltd hope to turn the buildings into a 100-bed
hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...
.


Editors


Current editor

The current editor of the ''Coventry Telegraph'' and CoventryLive is Adam Moss. He has been in post since September 2020, joining from Reach PLC Midlands, where he had taken over from former editor Graeme Brown, who left to pursue his new job as the editor of the ''Birmingham Live'' website. As well as serving as editor of ''Coventry Telegraph'', Moss also serves as editor for Reach's main Leicestershire-based daily title, the '' Leicester Mercury'' and its digital news brand, LeicestershireLive.


Past editors

Below is an ''incomplete list'' of editors of the ''Coventry Telegraph'' and ''Coventry Evening Telegraph'': * Eric Ivens (1960–1973) * Keith Whetstone (1974–1980) * Geoffrey Elliot (1980–1990) * Neil Benson (1991–1993) * Dan Mason (1995–?) * Alan Kirby (1998–2008) * Dave Brookes (2009) * Darren Parkin (2009–12) * Alun Thorne (2012–14) * Keith Perry (2015–19) * Graeme Brown (2019–20) * Adam Moss (2020–present)


Editions

''The Telegraph'' is published Monday to Saturday in the following editions: * City (''Coventry Telegraph'') *
Nuneaton Nuneaton ( ) is a market town in Warwickshire, England, close to the county border with Leicestershire to the north-east.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : Nuneaton's population at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 censu ...
(''Nuneaton Telegraph'') *
Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...
(''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 & Journal'' (closed 2011) * ''The
Kenilworth Kenilworth ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Warwick (district), Warwick District of Warwickshire, England, southwest of Coventry and north of both Warwick and Leamington Spa. Situated at the centre of t ...
,
Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...
&
Royal Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...
Times'' (formerly ''The Kenilworth Citizen'') (closed 2011) * ''Midland Farm Ad'' (now closed) * ''The Nuneaton Tribune'' (closed 2015) * ''The Rugby Times'' (closed 2009)


Archives

Historical copies of the ''Coventry Telegraph'', dating back to 1914, are available to search and view in digitised form at the
British Newspaper Archive The British Newspaper Archive website provides access to searchable digitized archives of British and Irish newspapers. It was launched in November 2011. History The British Library's Newspapers section was based in Colindale in north London ...
.Digitised copies of the ''Coventry Telegraph''
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References


External links

*
''The Hinckley Times'' websiteThe ''Loughborough Echo'' websiteTrinity Mirror Midlands websiteTrinity Mirror website
{{UK regional daily newspapers Newspapers published in the West Midlands (county) Newspapers established in 1891 Reach plc 1891 establishments in England Organisations based in Coventry Daily newspapers published in the United Kingdom