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The ''Waterloo Region Record'' (formerly ''The Record'') is the daily
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 a ...
covering
Waterloo Region The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo (KWC or Tri-Cities), and the townships of North Dumfr ...
,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada, including the cities of Kitchener, Waterloo and
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, as well as the surrounding area. Since December 1998, the ''Record'' has been published by
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 7 ...
, a subsidiary of
Torstar Torstar Corporation is a Canadian mass media company which primarily publishes daily and community newspapers. In addition to the ''Toronto Star'', its flagship and namesake, Torstar also publishes daily newspapers in Hamilton, Peterborough, Ni ...
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 Berlin High School between the years of 1891 and 1893. He t ...
, 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 Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour (born 25 August 1944), is a Canadian-born British former newspaper publisher, businessman, and writer. His father was businessman George Montegu Black II, who had significant holdings in Canadi ...
's
Hollinger Inc. Hollinger Inc. was a Canadian media company based in Toronto which was established by businessman Conrad Black. At one time, the company was the third-largest media empire in the world. The company went bankrupt in 2007. History Hollinger Inc. ...
took a controlling interest in Southam during the period when it owned ''The Record''. The paper was acquired by
Sun Media Sun Media Corporation was the owner of several tabloid and broadsheet newspapers in Canada and the 49 percent owner of the now defunct Sun News Network. It was a subsidiary of Quebecor Media. On October 6, 2014, Quebecor Media announced the sal ...
in 1998, but Sun itself was bought by
Quebecor Quebecor Inc. is a Canadian diversified media and telecommunications company serving Québec 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 F ...
soon after, and ''The Record'' was sold to
Torstar Torstar Corporation is a Canadian mass media company which primarily publishes daily and community newspapers. In addition to the ''Toronto Star'', its flagship and namesake, Torstar also publishes daily newspapers in Hamilton, Peterborough, Ni ...
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. Using a printing press, the process allows many copies to be produced by repeated direct impression of an inked, raised surface against sheets or a continuous roll of paper. A worker comp ...
system until 2000, when printing was moved to offset presses at parent company Torstar's Vaughan Press Centre in
Vaughan Vaughan () (2021 population 323,103) 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 increas ...
. Printing later moved to presses of sister papers in
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...
and
Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...
, 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, Canada. One of the largest Canadian newspapers by circulation,''The Hamilton Spectator'' is owned by Torstar. History ''The Hami ...
. 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 a 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.ca. ...
indicated that this strategy has not been successful for some newspapers. The
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
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 Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue.Schlesinger, Robert (April 14, 2017)"Fake news in reality ...
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 The Michener Award is one of the highest distinctions in Canadian journalism. The award was founded in 1970 by Roland Michener, who was Governor General of Canada at the time, and his wife Norah. The idea for the award was developed in 1969 with Bi ...
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 500-acre (2 km²) city park facility offering both outdoor and indoor amenities on the northeast side of the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, near the Eastbridge neighbourhood. Key facilities and features include the Manulif ...
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", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...
. ''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 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 publi ...
'' and the ''Record'' are owned and published by
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 7 ...
but keep separate newsrooms and operations.


See also

*
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 7 ...
*
Torstar Torstar Corporation is a Canadian mass media company which primarily publishes daily and community newspapers. In addition to the ''Toronto Star'', its flagship and namesake, Torstar also publishes daily newspapers in Hamilton, Peterborough, Ni ...
*
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 * Airdrie – ''Airdrie Echo'' * Bashaw – '' Bashaw Star'' * Bassano – ''Bassano Times'' * Beaumont – ...
*
List of newspapers in Canada by circulation Below is a list of Canada's top twenty-four newspapers by 2015 daily circulation.Source: Figures refer to the total circulation (print and digital combined) which includes paid and unpaid copies. See also * History of Canadian newspapers * ...


References


Further reading

*


External links

* *
Michener Awards
{{Torstar Newspapers published in Kitchener-Waterloo Torstar publications Daily newspapers published in Ontario Publications established in 1878 1878 establishments in Ontario