The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of the 20th century. It is one of the French-speaking province's last two English-language dailies; the other is the ''

Sherbrooke Record ''The Record'' is the only daily (Monday–Friday) English language newspaper based in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. It serves the Eastern Townships region of that province. It is one of the French-speaking province's last two English-language dail ...

'', which serves the anglophone community in

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( ; ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional cou ...

and the

Eastern Townships The Eastern Townships (french: Cantons de l'Est) is an historical administrative region in southeastern Quebec, Canada. It lies between the St. Lawrence Lowlands and the American border, and extends from Granby in the southwest, to Drummondv ...

southeast of Montreal. Founded in 1778 by

Fleury Mesplet Fleury Mesplet (January 10, 1734 – January 24, 1794) was a French-born Canadian printer best known for founding the ''Montreal Gazette'', Quebec's oldest daily newspaper, in 1778.Galarneau, Claude.Mesplet, Fleury, in ''Dictionary of Canadia ...

, ''The Gazette'' is Quebec's oldest daily newspaper and Canada's oldest daily newspaper still in publication. The oldest newspaper overall is the English-language ''

Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph The ''Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph'', founded by William Brown (c. 1737–1789) as the ''Quebec Gazette'' on 21 June 1764, is the oldest newspaper in North America. It is currently published as an English language weekly from its offices in Queb ...

'', which was established in 1764 and is published weekly.

History

founded a French-language weekly newspaper called ''La Gazette du commerce et littéraire, pour la ville et district de Montréal'' on June 3, 1778. It was the first entirely French-language newspaper in Canada. The paper did not accept advertising aside for the various books that Mesplet also published. The articles were meant to promote discussion, and it focused on

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

and

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

, as well as various anecdotal articles,

poems Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in a ...

and letters.

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

encouraged Mesplet to found the newspaper to persuade Canadians to join the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

; Mesplet, an immigrant from France, had previously lived in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and supported the Americans when they occupied Montreal during the war. The newspaper was shut down in 1779 when Mesplet and the editor,

Valentin Jautard Valentin Jautard ( – 8 June 1787) was a French-born Canadian lawyer and journalist. Born in Bordeaux, He is best known for his welcome of invading American troops in 1775 during the American Revolution, saying "our chains are broken, bliss ...

, were arrested for

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, estab ...

and imprisoned for three years. Mesplet began a second weekly, ''The Montreal Gazette / La Gazette de Montréal'', on August 25, 1785, which had a dual French-English bilingual format similar to that used by the ''

Quebec Gazette The ''Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph'', founded by William Brown (c. 1737–1789) as the ''Quebec Gazette'' on 21 June 1764, is the oldest newspaper in North America. It is currently published as an English language weekly from its offices in Queb ...

''. Its offices were located in the house of Joseph Lemoyne de Longueuil on rue de la Capitale. French columns were in the left-hand column and English columns in the right-hand column. The columns were originally written in French and translated to English by Valentin Jautard, who served as editor until his death in 1787. The columns were mostly on education, religion, and literature, and after 1788 on politics. Foreign and local news made up the rest of the paper. The paper took a Voltairian and

anticlerical Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to ...

stance, wanted Quebec to have its own legislative assembly and sought to import the principles of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

to Quebec. The newspaper also introduced advertising and announcements, taking up half of four pages. It is the direct ancestor of the current newspaper. The newspaper did well, and Mesplet's operation moved to

Notre-Dame Street Notre-Dame Street (officially in french: Rue Notre-Dame) is a historic east-west street located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It runs parallel to the Saint Lawrence River, from Lachine to the eastern tip of the island in Pointe-aux-Trembles, ...

in 1787. Mesplet continued to operate the newspaper until his death in 1794. Following Mesplet's death, his widow published the newspaper for several issues, but the paper ceased publication soon after. Two rivals, Louis Roy and Edward Edwards fought over the right to publish the newspaper over the course of two years. Edwards eventually won the printing press and newspaper and continued operations until his assets were seized in 1808. The newspaper was then the property of James Brown for fourteen years. In 1822, it was sold to businessman Thomas Andrew Turner who converted into an English-only paper in 1822. Under Turner, ''The Gazette'' identified with the interests of anglophone business leaders in their fight with the

Patriote movement The patriotes movement was a political movement that existed in Lower Canada (present-day Quebec) from the turn of the 19th century to the Patriote Rebellion of 1837 and 1838 and the subsequent Act of Union of 1840. The partisan embodiment o ...

. On April 25, 1849, ''The Gazette'' published a special edition in which its editor-in-chief,

James Moir Ferres James Moir Ferres (1813 – April 21, 1870) was a journalist and political figure in Upper Canada. He was born in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1813 and studied at Marischal College in Aberdeen. Ferres came to Montreal in 1833 and taught at Edward Bl ...

, called the "

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

" residents to arms after Royal Assent of a compensation law for Lower Canada. This was among the main events leading to the burning of the Parliament Buildings. Ferres was subsequently arrested, though soon released on bail and set free without trial. In 1939, ''The Gazette'' hired its first editorial cartoonist – John Collins, who worked a term of 43 years. In 1968, ''The Gazette'' was acquired by the

Southam Southam () is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. Southam is situated on the River Stowe (called 'The Brook' by many locals), which flows from Napton-on-the-Hill and joins Warwickshire's R ...

newspaper chain, which owned major dailies across Canada. For many years, ''The Gazette'' was caught in a three-way fight for the English newspaper audience in Montreal with the tabloid ''

Montreal Herald This is a list of defunct newspapers of Quebec. 1770–1799 * ''La Gazette du commerce et littéraire pour la Ville & District de Montréal'', 1778, Montréal, Fleury Mesplet, printer, and Valentin Jautard, editor and journalist * '' La Gazette ...

'' and the broadsheet ''

Montreal Star ''The Montreal Star'' was an English-language Canadian newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It closed in 1979 in the wake of an eight-month pressmen's strike. It was Canada's largest newspaper until the 1950s and remained the dominan ...

''. ''The Gazette'' was second in circulation to the ''Montreal Star'', which sold more newspapers in the city and had a significant national reputation in the first half of the 20th century. The ''Montreal Herald'' closed in 1957, after publishing for 146 years. The ''Montreal Star'', part of the FP Publications chain (which owned the ''

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Winnipeg Free Press'' (or WFP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, national, and international news, as well as ...

'' and, at the time, ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

''), endured a long strike and ceased publication in 1979, less than a year after the strike was settled. Gazette reader

In 1988, a competing English-language daily, the ''

Montreal Daily News The ''Montreal Daily News'' was a short-lived English language Canadian daily newspaper in Quebec. Quebecor founder Pierre Péladeau and British tabloid publisher Robert Maxwell teamed up to launch a competing English-language newspaper against ...

'', was launched. The ''Montreal Daily News'' adopted a tabloid format and introduced a Sunday edition, forcing ''The Gazette'' to respond. After the ''Montreal Daily News'' closed in 1989, after less than two years in operation, ''The Gazette'' kept its Sunday edition going until August 2010. In 1996, the Southam papers were bought by

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. Then in August 2000, Hollinger sold the Southam newspapers, including ''The Gazette'', to Canwest Global Communications Corp., controlled by the Winnipeg-based Asper family. In 2010, a new media group,

Postmedia Postmedia Network Canada Corp. (also known as Postmedia Network, Postmedia News or Postmedia) is a Canadian media conglomerate consisting of the publishing properties of the former Canwest, with primary operations in newspaper publishing, news ...

, bought the Gazette and other papers from the financially troubled Canwest. To celebrate its 150th anniversary, ''The Gazette'' published a

facsimile A facsimile (from Latin ''fac simile'', "to make alike") is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, Old master print, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from ...

of one of its earliest issues. Much effort was made to use a type of paper that imitated 18th century paper, with fake chainlines and laidlines to make the paper look old.

Today

Today, ''The Gazette''s audience is primarily Quebec's English-speaking community. ''The Gazette'' is one of the three dailies published in Montreal, the other two being French-language newspapers: ''

Le Journal de Montréal ''Le Journal de Montréal'' is a daily French-language tabloid newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Quebec and is also the largest French-language daily newspaper in North America. ...

'' and ''

Le Devoir ''Le Devoir'' (, "Duty") is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910. ''Le Devoir'' is one of few independent large-c ...

''. ('' La Presse'' is only published digitally since 2018.) In recent years, ''The Gazette'' has stepped up efforts to reach bilingual francophone professionals and adjusted its coverage accordingly. The current editor-in-chief is Lucinda Chodan. The deputy editor is Basem Boshra and the associate managing editor is Jeff Blond. Montreal gazette logo

On April 30, 2013,

Postmedia Network Postmedia Network Canada Corp. (also known as Postmedia Network, Postmedia News or Postmedia) is a Canadian media conglomerate consisting of the publishing properties of the former Canwest, with primary operations in newspaper publishing, news ...

announced that it would be eliminating the role of publisher at each of its newspapers, including ''The Gazette''. Instead, the company's 10 newspapers were overseen by regional publishers, one each for the Pacific, the Prairies and eastern Canada. Alan Allnutt, who was the publisher of ''The Gazette'' at the time, became the regional publisher of Postmedia's

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

and

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

papers. Gerry Nott, publisher of the ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...

'', now also oversees ''The Gazette'', the ''

Windsor Star The ''Windsor Star'' is a daily newspaper based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Postmedia Network, it is published Tuesdays through Saturdays. History The paper began as the weekly ''Windsor Record'' in 1888, changing its name to the ''Bo ...

'' and Postmedia's flagship title, the ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

''. On May 5, 2014, it was announced that printing of ''The Gazette'' would be contracted out to

Transcontinental Media Transcontinental Inc., operating as TC Transcontinental, is a Montreal-based packaging, commercial printing and specialty media company. The company was established in 1976 as a direct marketing company, and later expanded into newspaper printing ...

in August 2014 and that the existing Notre-Dame-de-Grâce facility would be closed, resulting in a loss of 54 full-time and 61 part-time positions at the paper. The August 16, 2014, issue was the final issue printed by the Postmedia-owned facility. On October 21, 2014, ''The Gazette'' was relaunched as part of the Postmedia Reimagined project, adopting a similar look, and a similar suite of digital platforms, to its sister paper, the ''Ottawa Citizen'', which had relaunched earlier in the year. As part of the relaunch, the paper was officially renamed the ''Montreal Gazette'', reflecting its longstanding common name outside its city of publication (as well as its Web domain, ''montrealgazette.com''). The paper had not included Montreal in its masthead in several years.

Sections

Weekdays

*Section A — Local, national and international news, opinion columns, editorials, editorial cartoon, letters to the editor, business news, sports news, arts and entertainment news *Section B — Sports (Mondays and Thursdays), Business (Tuesdays), Food (Wednesdays), Movies (Fridays) *Section C — Driving and classifieds (Mondays)

Saturday

*Section A — Local, national and international news *Section B — Saturday Extra: Feature stories and opinion columns, editorials, editorial cartoon, letters to the editor *Section C — Business news and weather *Section D — Sports *Section E — Culture *Section F — Homefront, classified, working *Section G — Travel *Section H — Weekend Life *Section W — Diversions

Editors-in-chief

Mark Harrison Mark Harrison is the name of: * Mark Harrison (American football) (born 1990), American football player * Mark Harrison (comics) (born 1963), British comic book artist * Mark Harrison (footballer) (born 1960), English footballer * T. Mark Harrison ...

(1977–1989) *

Norman Webster Norman Eric Webster (June 4, 1941 – November 19, 2021) was a Canadian journalist and an editor-in-chief of ''The Globe and Mail'' and '' The Gazette''. He was one of the three western journalists in the Chinese capital Beijing during the Cult ...

(1989–1993) *

Joan Fraser Joan Fraser (born October 12, 1944) is a Canadian former senator and journalist. Biography Fraser went to Edgehill School and then joined the ''Montreal Gazette'' in 1965 after graduating from McGill University. After two years as a cub repo ...

(1993–1996) *

Alan Allnutt Alan may refer to: People * Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname * Alan (given name), an English given name ** List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' ...

(1996–2000) *

Peter Stockland Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

(2000–2004) * Andrew Phillips (2004–2009) *

Raymond Brassard Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund (disambiguation), Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic langu ...

(2010–2013) * Lucinda Chodan (2013–present)

Present personalities

Mike Boone Mike Boone (born June 30, 1995) is an American football running back for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Cincinnati and signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2018. ...

* Bill Brownstein * Josh Freed * Pat Hickey *

L. Ian MacDonald L. Ian MacDonald (born 1947) is a Canadian writer, broadcaster, and diplomat. Biography MacDonald graduated from Concordia University (Loyola) in 1969 with an honours degree in political science. He has been a columnist for the Montreal Gazette ...

Terry Mosher Christopher Terry Mosher, (born 11 November 1942) is a Canadian political cartoonist for the ''Montreal Gazette''. He draws under the name Aislin, a rendition of the name of his eldest daughter Aislinn (without the second 'n'). Aislin's drawing ...

(Aislin) *

Joseph A. Schwarcz Joseph A. Schwarcz (born 1947) is an author and a sessional instructor at McGill University. He is the director of McGill's Office for Science and Society. Early life Schwarcz is an only child, born in Sopron, Hungary to Jewish parents. Durin ...

* Jack Todd * Herb Zurkowsky

Past personalities

Nick Auf der Maur Nick Erik Auf der Maur (April 10, 1942 – April 7, 1998)Downey, Donn. ''Montreal columnist chronicled cancer fight'', A1. '' The Globe and Mail'', April 9, 1998. was a Canadian journalist, politician and "man about town" boulevardier in Montre ...

* Dave Bist *

Ted Blackman Ted Blackman (February 17, 1942 – October 2, 2002) was a Canadian media personality in the Montreal, Quebec area. Blackman's career started as a disc jockey at high school and teen club dances in the 1950s. After high school, he sold his records ...

Richard Burnett Richard Burnett, also known as Bugs Burnett, is a Canadian writer, editor, journalist, and columnist. He is known as an often controversial fixture of the Montreal media, with his writing sometimes attracting attention internationally. His colu ...

Edgar Andrew Collard Edgar Andrew Collard (6 September 1911 – 9 September 2000) was a Canadian journalist and historian, best known for his ''Montreal Gazette'' column "All Our Yesterdays". He was born in Montreal, Quebec. He received his MA in history from McGi ...

* John Collins *

Peggy Curran Peggy may refer to: People * Peggy (given name), people with the given name or nickname Arts and entertainment * ''Peggy'' (musical), a 1911 musical comedy by Stuart and Bovill * ''Peggy'' (album), a 1977 Peggy Lee album * ''Peggy'' (191 ...

Michael Farber Michael Farber (born September 1951) is an American author and sports journalist, and was a writer with ''Sports Illustrated'' from 1994 to 2014. He covered mostly ice hockey and olympic sports. Before 1994, Farber spent 15 years as a sports co ...

* Red Fisher *

John Griffin John Griffin may refer to: Lawyers *John Griffin (judge) (1774/1779 – after 1823), American jurist and member of the Michigan Territorial Supreme Court, 1806–1823 *John Bowes Griffin (1903–1992), British lawyer, Chief Justice of Uganda and f ...

* William Johnson *

Dane Lanken Dane Lanken (December 9, 1945 – March 3, 2023) was a Canadian journalist and author. Career Lanken was a film critic for the ''Montreal Gazette'' from 1967 to 1977, and was then a freelance journalist who wrote regularly for ''Canadian Geogr ...

Ken McKenzie Ken McKenzie (August 19, 1923April 9, 2003) was a Canadian newspaper publisher and sports journalist. He served as publicity director of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1946 to 1963. In 1947, he published the first NHL press and radio g ...

* Myer Newell Negru *

Mordecai Richler Mordecai Richler (January 27, 1931 – July 3, 2001) was a Canadian writer. His best known works are ''The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (novel), The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz'' (1959) and ''Barney's Version (novel), Barney's Versi ...

* Helen Rochester * Tommy Schnurmacher *

Eric Siblin Eric Siblin is a Canadian writer. A former music critic for the ''Montreal Gazette'', he is most noted for his 2009 book ''The Cello Suites: J.S. Bach, Pablo Casals, and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece''. The book won both the McAuslan First ...

Paul Wells Paul Wells is a Canadian journalist and pundit. He was briefly a national affairs columnist for the ''Toronto Star'' in 2016–2017. Before that, he was a columnist for ''Maclean's'' for thirteen years; his column originally appeared in the bac ...

Robert Smeaton White Robert Smeaton White (March 15, 1856 – December 5, 1944) was a Canadian journalist and political figure. He represented Cardwell from 1888 to 1895, Mount Royal from 1925 to 1935 and Saint-Antoine—Westmount from 1935 to 1940 as a Conservat ...

References

External links

*
Official mobile websiteDigital microfilm archive 1878–1986 from Google news archive.Bicentennial issue
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montreal Gazette Newspapers published in Montreal Postmedia Network publications English-language newspapers published in Quebec Publications established in 1778 Daily newspapers published in Quebec 1778 establishments in the Province of Quebec (1763–1791)