''Press Gazette'', formerly known as ''UK Press Gazette'' (UKPG), is a British trade magazine dedicated to journalism and the press. First published in 1965, it had a circulation of about 2,500 before becoming online-only in 2013. Published with the strapline "Future of Media", it covers news about newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, and the online press, dealing with launches, closures, moves, legislation and technological advances affecting journalists. It is funded by

subscriptions The subscription business model is a business model in which a customer must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a product or service. The model was pioneered by publishers of books and periodicals in the 17th century. It i ...

recruitment Recruitment is #Process, the overall process of identifying, sourcing, screening, shortlisting, and interviewing candidates for Job (role), jobs (either permanent or temporary) within an organization. Recruitment also is the process involved in ...

and

classified Classified may refer to: General *Classified information, material that a government body deems to be sensitive *Classified advertising or "classifieds" Music *Classified (rapper) (born 1977), Canadian rapper * The Classified, a 1980s American ro ...

advertising, and

display advertising Digital display advertising is online graphic advertising through banners, text, images, video, and audio. The main purpose of digital display advertising is to post company ads on third-party websites. A display ad is usually interactive (i.e. ...

. It is owned by Progressive Media Investments, which also owns the magazines ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'' and ''

Spear's ''Spear's'' (formerly known as ''Spear's WMS'' or ''Spear's Wealth Management Survey''), founded in 2006 by William Cash, is a bimonthly British magazine for high-net-worth individuals and those in the financial service industries. It has been ...

''.

History

''Press Gazette'' was launched in November 1965 by

Colin Valdar Colin Valdar (18 December 1918 – 11 January 1996) was a British newspaper editor. Valdar studied at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, then in Hampstead. He worked as a freelance journalist from 1935 to 39, then served with the Royal Engin ...

, his wife Jill, and his brother Stewart. Upon the Valdars' retirement in 1983 the magazine was sold to Timothy Benn, who sold it in 1990 to the Canadian publishing company

Maclean Hunter Maclean-Hunter (M-H) was a Canadian communications company, which had diversified holdings in radio, television, magazines, newspapers and cable television distribution. History The company began in 1887, when brothers John Bayne Maclean and Hu ...

. The magazine was sold again in 1994, this time to

EMAP Ascential (formerly EMAP) was a British-headquartered global company, specialising in events, intelligence and advisory services for the marketing and financial technology industries. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was ac ...

. Three years later the magazine was sold again, along with ''MediaWeek'' and 12 other titles, to Quantum Business Media for £14.1 million.

High-profile owners and closure

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian - American retired business magnate, investor, and media mogul. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of List of assets owned by News Corp, local, national, a ...

's son-in-law

Matthew Freud Matthew Rupert Freud (born 2 November 1963) is a British entrepreneur and public relations executive and head of Freud Communications, an international public relations firm in the United Kingdom. Early life Freud was born in London, the young ...

became the new owner of ''Press Gazette'' in May 2005, entering into partnership with former ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'' editor

Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; O'Meara, born 30 March 1965) is an English journalist and media personality. He began his career in 1988 at the tabloid ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, at the age of 29, he was appointed editor of ...

to raise around £600,000 to buy the title. The purchase was part of the break-up of Quantum Business Media by its owners, the venture-capital group ABN Amro Capital. On 19 October 2006, Freud announced that the magazine was for sale, citing as a reason indifference in the newspaper industry to the

British Press Awards The Press Awards, formerly the British Press Awards, is an annual ceremony that celebrates the best of British journalism. History Established in 1962 by ''The People'' and '' World's Press News'', the first award ceremony for the then-named Ha ...

. The company owned by Freud and Morgan, Press Gazette Limited, subsequently entered

administrative receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver – a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights" – especiall ...

. Initially, the receivers were unable to find another buyer for the magazine, and on 24 November 2006 it closed.

Acquisition and relaunch

After the publication missed one issue,

Wilmington Group Wilmington plc is a publishing firm and provider of information and training, specialising in compliance, legal and healthcare publications. The company was established in 1995 and has its headquarters Whitechapel High Street, London. It publish ...

plc announced on 5 December 2006 it had acquired the title. Wilmington Media editorial director

Tony Loynes Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony the Tiger, cartoon mascot for Frosted Flakes cereal * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * ...

, a former ''Press Gazette'' editor, led the take-over. He named news editor Dominic Ponsford as editor, and the magazine moved from

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

to Wilmington Media's

Old Street Old Street is a street in inner north-east Central London, England that runs west to east from Goswell Road in Clerkenwell, in the London Borough of Islington, via St Luke's and Old Street Roundabout, to the crossroads where it meets Shor ...

headquarters. Both the magazine and its website PressGazette.co.uk underwent a redesign in May 2007, including a new masthead and body font. The magazine switched from weekly to monthly publication in August 2008. On 6 April 2009, Wilmington Group announced the May 2009 issue would be the last, but the magazine was purchased on 22 April 2009 by Mike Danson of the Progressive Media Group, shortly after he attained full control of the ''

'', in April 2009. The Wilmington Group retained the British Press Awards. ''Press Gazette'' went to a quarterly publication in June 2012. At the beginning of 2013 it ended print publication, keeping a weekly digital edition. A

paywall A paywall is a method of restricting access to content (media), content, with a purchase or a subscription business model, paid subscription, especially news. Beginning in the mid-2010s, newspapers started implementing paywalls on their website ...

was added to its website in May 2025.

Magazine Design and Journalism Awards

Since about 1998, the ''Press Gazette'' award the ''Magazine Design and Journalism Awards'' in multiple categories. One source said "They are considered the only awards which celebrate design and journalism across all magazine sectors – consumer, B2B and customer." Awards were presented in the following categories: *Magazine Design Awards **Young Designer of the Year **Best Designed Feature Spread **Best New Design/Redesign **Best Designed Front Cover **Best Use of Typography **Best Use of Illustration **Best Use of Photography **Magazine Designer of the Year **Best Designed Magazine of the Year *Magazine Journalism Awards **Exclusive of the Year **Feature Writer of the Year **Interviewer of the Year **Columnist of the Year **News Reporter of the Year **Business Reporter of the Year **Production Team of the Year **Reviewer of the Year **Digital Journalist of the Year **Editor of the Year

References

External links

''Press Gazette'' websiteThe British Press Awards websitePiers Morgan's Official Website
*Julia Pearlman
"Press Gazette honours journalists with Hall of Fame exhibition"
Brand Republic, 22 November 2005 *Roy Greenslade

''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'', 24 January 2006 *Stephen Brook
"Single sponsor for Press Awards"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...