The ''Waterloo Region Record'' (formerly ''The Record'') is the 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 ...
covering
Waterloo Region,
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, Canada, including the cities of
Kitchener,
Waterloo and
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
, as well as the surrounding area. Since December 1998, the ''Record'' has been published by
Metroland Media Group, a subsidiary of
Torstar Corporation. On May 26, 2020, Torstar, agreed to be acquired by NordStar Capital, a private investment firm; the deal was expected to close by year end.
History
The ''Record'' traces its history back to the founding of the ''Daily News'', first published on February 9, 1878, by former Methodist preacher Peter Moyer at a printing press located at King and Ontario streets in Berlin (now Kitchener). This would be the city's first daily newspaper, and Canada's first bilingual daily as it was supplemented with a full page of German news for the first eight months of its life.
In 1896, at the time of Moyer's death, three newspapers existed in the city of Berlin: the ''Berlin Daily Telegraph'', the ''Berlin Daily Record'' and Moyer's ''Daily News''. Due to financial pressures, by 1897 the latter two had merged to become the ''Berlin News Record'', run by William (Ben) Uttley, publisher of the ''Berlin Daily Record'' and local historian. Retiring in October 1919, Uttley sold the newspaper to W.J. Motz and
William Daum Euler
William Daum Euler, (July 10, 1875 – July 15, 1961) was a Canadian parliamentarian.
Euler was born in Conestogo, Ontario, the son of Henry Euler and Catherine Daum. He attended Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School, Berlin ...
, who renamed it ''The Kitchener Daily Record''.
In 1922, the ''Daily Record'' took over the ''Daily Telegraph'', leaving it the only newspaper of significant size serving the community. On April 2, 1929, the newspaper moved from 49 King Street West to what was at the time considered the most modern printing operation in the country (using a 24-page press) at 30 Queen Street North. Motz and Euler fought over control of the newspaper for the next two decades, with the former eventually winning majority interest. Euler sold his stock to
Southam Company in 1953, leaving Motz's son, John E. Motz, the sole director of the rapidly growing daily.
On January 1, 1948, John Motz changed the name of the newspaper once again, to ''The Kitchener-Waterloo Record'' (to mark the occasion of Waterloo's designation as a city), a name which remained until the change to ''The Record'', in 1994. During this period the 24-page press would be replaced first by a 48-page press in the 1950s, a 96-page press in 1961–1962, and a 128-page press in 1973. In 1962, it was the first company in Canada to use plastic sleeves to protect newspapers bound for rural addresses.
Ownership had been in the hands of the Motz family for generations until 1990, when the paper was sold to Southam in a $90 million deal.
Conrad Black's
Hollinger Inc. took a controlling interest in Southam during the period when it owned ''The Record''. The paper was acquired by
Sun Media in 1998, but Sun itself was bought by
Quebecor
Quebecor Inc. is a Canadian diversified media and telecommunications company serving Quebec based in Montreal. It was spelled Quebecor in both English and French until May 2012, when shareholders voted to add the acute accent, Québecor, in ...
soon after, and ''The Record'' was sold to
Torstar before the end of the year. The administrative records and photographic negatives of the paper amassed prior to the Sun Media acquisition are maintained at the
University of Waterloo Library.
On June 3, 2002, ''The Record'' switched from being an afternoon newspaper to morning one.
In January 2005, the paper was moved to Market Square on King Street East in Kitchener's downtown core. It had been based on Fairway Road in Kitchener since May 1973. The paper was printed at that location on a
letterpress
Letterpress printing is a technique of relief printing for producing many copies by repeated direct impression of an inked, raised surface against individual sheets of paper or a continuous roll of paper. A worker composes and locks movable t ...
system until 2000, when printing was moved to
offset presses at parent company Torstar's
Vaughan Press Centre in
Vaughan
Vaughan ( ) (2022 population 344,412) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increa ...
. Printing later moved to presses of sister papers in
Hamilton
Hamilton may refer to:
* Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States
* ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda
** ''Hamilton'' (al ...
and
Guelph
Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...
, and then back to Vaughan from time to time. As of 2014, the Record is usually printed at the Star-owned
Hamilton Spectator
''The Hamilton Spectator'', founded in 1846, is a newspaper published weekdays and Saturdays in Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. One of the largest Canadian newspapers by circulation, ''The Hamilton Spectator'' is owned by Torstar.
...
. On May 24, 2019, Torstar Corporation announced it will close its Hamilton Spectator printing operations on or about August 24, 2019. The printing work (including printing of the Record) performed at the Hamilton facility will be transferred to
TC Transcontinental Printing, various Torstar-owned facilities, and other external printers.
The Record building on Fairway Road in Kitchener was demolished in September 2005.
On March 11, 2008, the name was changed to the ''Waterloo Region Record'', returning the community name to the
nameplate
A nameplate identifies and displays a person or product's name. Nameplates are usually shaped as rectangles but are also seen in other shapes, sometimes taking on the shape of someone's written name. Nameplates primarily serve an informat ...
.
In early 2018, the company announced that it would set up a paywall on its website. Consumers who do not pay the fee to subscribe will be allowed to read only seven articles per month. An article published by
CBC News
CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...
indicated that this strategy has not been successful for some newspapers. The
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
has a million subscribers but the publication has an international cachet that makes it a "must-read", especially in the U.S. where
Fake news has been widespread.
Circulation
The ''Waterloo Region Record'' has seen like most
Canadian daily newspapers a decline in
circulation. Its total circulation dropped by percent to 53,283 copies daily from 2009 to 2015.
:::::::::Daily average
[ Figures refer to the total circulation (print and digital combined) which includes paid and unpaid copies.]
Awards
''The Record'' has won the
Michener Award for meritorious public service in journalism four times: 1978, 1981 (shared), 1983, and 2001. It received the 2001 award for breaking the story on the
RIM Park
RIM Park is a city park facility offering both outdoor and indoor amenities on the northeast side of the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, near the Eastbridge neighbourhood. Key facilities and features include the Manulife F ...
financing fiasco.
Other publications
In November 2005, the ''Record'' began publishing ''Grand'', a regional lifestyle magazine. It followed that with the March 2006 launch of ''Rex'', a business magazine covering Waterloo Region and
Guelph
Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...
. ''Most'' magazine, for women over 40, was launched in the spring of 2008. ''Rex'' was scheduled to suspend publication after the April 2009 issue. All magazines are distributed independently of the newspaper.
Both the ''
Cambridge Times'' and the ''Record'' are owned and published by
Metroland Media Group but keep separate newsrooms and operations.
See also
*
Metroland Media Group
*
Torstar
*
List of newspapers in Canada
This list of newspapers in Canada is a list of newspapers printed and distributed in Canada. Daily newspapers
Local weeklies Alberta
* Bashaw – ''Bashaw Star''
* Bassano – ''Bassano Times''
* Beaumont – ''Beaumont News''
* Beaverlodg ...
*
List of newspapers in Canada by circulation
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
*
Michener Awards
{{Canadian journalism
Newspapers published in Kitchener-Waterloo
Torstar publications
Daily newspapers published in Ontario
Newspapers established in 1878
1878 establishments in Ontario