The ''Lancashire Telegraph'', formerly the ''Lancashire Evening Telegraph'', is a local tabloid newspaper distributed in East

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England. It is edited by Karl Holbrook. There are around twenty towns in the area, including

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

, Accrington,

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to the sout ...

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists visiting the area. In 2018, the Cl ...

Colne Colne () is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. Located northeast of Nelson, north-east of Burnley, east of Preston and west of Leeds. The town should not be confused with the unrelated Colne Val ...

, and

Rawtenstall Rawtenstall () is a town in the borough of Rossendale, Lancashire, England. The town lies 15 miles/24 km north of Manchester, 22 miles/35 km east of Preston and 45 miles/70 km south east of the county town of Lancaster. The town is at the ...

. The editor is Karl Holbrook, who is also the group editor of Newsquest's newspaper brands across Lancashire and Greater Manchester, including The Bolton News, Bury Times, The Oldham Times and Salford City News. The newspapers are owned by Newsquest, a division of Gannett, a firm based in the United States.

History

The newspaper was founded by Thomas Purvis Ritzema, a young newspaper manager, who purchased two shops at 19 and 21 Railway Road, Blackburn, for the launch of his venture. The first copy appeared on the streets on 26 October 1886, and sold for a ha’penny. It was known then as the ''Northern Daily Telegraph'', and it was the first evening newspaper to be published in East Lancashire. In 1894, the head office was moved to the corner site of Railway Road and High Street. From 7 September 1939, soon after the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, advertisements gave way to news on the front page. On 10 December 1956, it changed its title to the ''Northern Evening Telegraph'' and on 2 September 1963, the name changed again to ''Lancashire Evening Telegraph''. The newspaper used full colour for the first time, on 11 November 1963, with

spot colour In offset printing, a spot color or solid color is any color generated by an ink (pure or mixed) that is printed using a ''single run'', whereas a process color is produced by printing a series of dots of different colors. The widespread offse ...

introduced on 25 January 1965, and colour in

classified advertising Classified advertising is a form of advertising, particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals, which may be sold or distributed free of charge. Classified advertisements are much cheaper than larger display advertisements used ...

following on 19 March 1965. In 1982, it moved to the south side of High Street, which marked the introduction of new computerised technology. The new offices were built on part of the Dutton's brewery site; the old offices were demolished, and after the remainder of the brewery closed in the mid 1980s, the supermarket (

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headqu ...

) was built on the site. In 1995, the Lancashire Evening Telegraph became the first regional newspaper in Britain to put daily, updated news on the internet. In February 2006, in order to cut costs, the company announced it was to close its district offices in the Lancashire towns of

, Accrington and

. On 17 July 2006, the newspaper changed its name to the: ''Lancashire Telegraph'', as it switched to overnight printing, in order to distribute copies in the morning. It was ''North West: Newspaper of the Year'' in the How Do! Awards, 2011. In March 2017, the newspaper moved to Church Street, and the offices on High Street were converted into apartments.

References

{{Borough of Pendle culture Blackburn with Darwen Mass media in Burnley Mass media in the Borough of Pendle Newspapers published in Lancashire Newspapers published by Newsquest Publications established in 1886