The ''Hemel Hempstead Gazette & Express'' is a

local newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written 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 politics, business, sports an ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

that covers the towns of

Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500. Developed after the Second World War as a ne ...

Berkhamsted Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which is based in the neighbouring large new town ...

and

Tring Tring is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in a gap passing through the Chiltern Hills, classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from Central London. Tring is linked to ...

and the surrounding area in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

History

It was first published in 1858 as ''The Hemel Hempstead Gazette and West Herts Advertiser'', this was renamed in 1899 as ''The Hertfordshire, Hemel Hempstead Gazette and West Herts Advertiser'' and it was published under this title until 1973. From 1973 it was known simply as the ''Hemel Hempstead Gazette'', and from 1991 as ''The Gazette''. The paper generated two sibling titles, the ''Berkhamsted & Tring Gazette'' and a

free newspaper Free newspapers are distributed free of charge, often in central places in cities and towns, on public transport, with other newspapers, or separately door-to-door. The revenues of such newspapers are based on advertising. They are published at d ...

, ''Herald Express'', all of which come from the same offices. In May 2017, the ''Gazettes parent company

Johnston Press Johnston Press plc was a multimedia company founded in Falkirk, Scotland, in 1767. Its flagship titles included UK-national newspaper the '' i'', ''The Scotsman'', the ''Yorkshire Post'', the ''Falkirk Herald'', and Belfast's ''The News Letter'' ...

merged the three titles into on single newspaper, the ''Hemel Hempstead Gazette & Express''. The paper covers a range of local stories, including reports about crime and violence, planning applications affecting

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land, stories related to the

killer clown craze The 2016 clown sightings were reports of people disguised as evil clowns in incongruous settings, such as near forests and schools. The incidents were reported in the United States, Canada, and subsequently in other countries and territories start ...

and film premieres. In 2005, the

Newspaper Society The News Media Association is a trade body which styles itself as "the voice of national, regional and local news media organisations in the UK". It was created in 2014 by a merger between the Newspaper Society and the Newspaper Publishers' Associat ...

praised the ''Hemel Hempstead Gazette'' for its coverage of the Buncefield oil depot explosion. In 2014, the ''Gazette'' covered a local controversy about the proposed construction of a

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supermarket in Berkhamsted. The public debate attracted attention from national media such as the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

'' and was featured on an edition of ITV London News. In 2018, the ''Gazette'' was reprimanded by the

Independent Press Standards Organisation The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) is the regulator of the newspaper and magazine industry in the UK. It was established on 8 September 2014 after the windup of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), which had been the main ind ...

for a news item on its ''Hemel Today'' website which falsely reported that a former mayor of

Dacorum Borough Council The Borough of Dacorum is a local government district in Hertfordshire, England that includes the towns of Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, Tring and Kings Langley. The district, which was formed in 1974, had a population of 137,799 in 2001. Its ...

had committed suicide after suffering from the effects of the

menopause Menopause, also known as the climacteric, is the time in women's lives when menstrual periods stop permanently, and they are no longer able to bear children. Menopause usually occurs between the age of 47 and 54. Medical professionals often d ...

. The story related to another woman of the same name, and the ''Gazette'' apologised to the former mayor.

Publication, production and ownership

The ''Hemel Hempstead Gazette & Express'' is part of Premier Newspapers Ltd which itself is part of the

group of local newspapers. It is printed in Sheffield. It is published on Wednesdays. The ''Gazettes website is published under the title ''Hemel Today'', with archives going back to 1990, with corresponding mirror websites entitled ''Berkhamsted Today'' and ''Tring Today''. Previously, about 10 people worked in the editorial department which was based at Newspaper House, 39 Marlowes, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, HP1 1LH. In January 2014 Johnston Press closed the ''Gazette'' office, and the editorial staff are now

remote work Remote work, also called work from home (WFH), work from anywhere, telework, remote job, mobile work, and distance work is an employment arrangement in which employees do not commute to a central place of work, such as an office building, ware ...

ers. The ''Gazettes paper

archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

is now held by the

Dacorum Heritage Trust Dacorum Heritage (DH) is a local history advocacy group in the United Kingdom. It collects and records the history of the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, in the south of England, and aims to encourage the appreciation of the heritage of Dac ...

References

External links

Readership report for Hemel Hempstead Gazette
at JICREG, Retrieved November 2009
Archive of 'Gazzer' Cartoons, featuring the Hemel Hempstead Gazette's mascot dog.''The Hemel Hempstead Gazette and West Herts Advertiser'' (1872–1891) on The British Newspaper Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hemel Hempstead Gazette and Express Newspapers published in Hertfordshire Companies based in Dacorum Hemel Hempstead Publications established in 1867 1867 establishments in England Newspapers published by Johnston Press