Winnipeg Tribune

''The Winnipeg Tribune'' was a metropolitan daily newspaper serving Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada from January 28, 1890 to August 27, 1980. The paper was founded by R.L. Richardson and D.L. McIntyre who acquired the press and premises of the old ''Winnipeg Sun'' newspaper. It was often viewed as a liberal newspaper focused on local news and events. The paper was owned by Southam Inc at the time of its demise. It was frequently referred to as ''The Trib''.

History

1890–1975

The Winnipeg Tribune began publishing on January 28, 1890, as a city newspaper, after the old ''Winnipeg Sun'' closed down. The initial edition contained four pages of local, national and international news. It was then in competition with two other newspapers: the '' Manitoba Free Press'' and the ''Winnipeg Telegram''.

In 1914, the ''Tribune'' moved its editorial offices from the Exchange area to the Central Business District area of downtown on Smith Street. It remained there until it closed in August 1980.

During the Winnipeg General Strike in 1919, the newspaper sided with the ''Citizens' Committee of 1000'' and declared, "Winnipeg is now under the Soviet system of government."

It was bought by Southam Newspapers in 1920.

In 1922, the ''Winnipeg Tribune'' launched a radio station, CJNC-AM, that broadcast on the frequency 410 KHz and closed down a year later, on March 9, 1923. Said the station manager at the closing:

We have some important news for you. Some of you may not consider it good news. The Tribune will give its last radio concert next Friday night. It will then dismantle its radio equipment and retire permanently from the broadcasting field.

In 1942, the newspaper published a famous army publicity photo of Mary Greyeyes, the first Indigenous woman to enlist in the Canadian Women's Army Corps. The photo was soon picked up by British newspapers overseas.

On Friday, September 5, 1969, the ''Tribune'' replaced its small user-folded TV listings printed on yellow paper with a glossy-covered 32-page booklet, ''TV Times'', which was also featured in the ''Ottawa Citizen'' and the ''Montreal Gazette''.

On Sunday, June 21, 1970, a new Centrex telephone system was installed for advertisers and subscribers to use when they called. This allowed direct dialing without requiring the person to contact the switchboard operator first.

1975–1980

By the mid-1970s, daily circulation began to slip to 70,000 and was falling. The Southam chain decided on a total redesign of the paper. The new design made its debut on September 6, 1975. Although the offset press could print a 112-page newspaper, the September 6 edition was 124 pages, including the 48-page ''Trib Classifieds''. That forced the press operators to print the ''Trib Lifestyle'' section separately. Within a few months, circulation gained 30,000 paid readers, which made the upgrade a success.

A few days before the design change, on September 1, all private sale listings were made in the classified ads free in the form of a ''Want-Ad Free-for-All'' promotion. That was because of fierce competition with the ''Winnipeg Free Press''.

In March 1979, it bought some space atop the Casa Loma building (Portage Avenue & Sherbrook Street) to hold Winnipeg's largest billboard. It read, "ogoWith the Trib, it's Winnipeg. First." The billboard was designed by the advertising firm Martel-Stewart Ltd., and was larger than any that had been billboard seen in Winnipeg; it was also the largest in Western Canada. It measured 23 feet tall by 60 feet wide and had 4,200 light bulbs. The billboard space had been used by Export A cigarettes as early as 1959.

When Southam's weekend magazine ''The Canadian'' merged with FP Newspapers' ''Weekend'', the ''Tribune'' decided to differentiate itself from the ''Free Press'' by creating a locally-written tabloid, ''Trib Magazine'', which started on November 24, 1979.

In the late 1970s, the ''Tribune'' started publishing the weekend color comics in booklet form as "collectible comics." It was one of the first newspapers (and one of the very few in Canada) to use that short-lived format. The first issue, Vol.1 No.1, was published September 24, 1977. The final issue, Vol.4 No. 34, was published August 23, 1978, when the strips returned to the main edition.

The trademark name is now owned by the paper's old rival, the ''Winnipeg Free Press''.

Closure

On August 27, 1980, without warning, the ''Tribune'' was abruptly closed, and 375 people were out of work. Gene Telpner joked that he had just gotten new drapes and furniture. Val Werier, who was with the Trib for 35 years, said that it was a shocking moment. However, people in the pressroom knew that something was coming because management had stopped the presses that morning, which did rarely and only for major events.

Shockwaves moved through the community also, and many Winnipeggers were angry about losing a competing public voice.

Worse yet, the closure happened at the same time as the closing of the ''Ottawa Journal''. In 1980, the ''Ottawa Journal'' had been purchased by Thomson Newspapers and was closed. That left Southam's ''Ottawa Citizen'' as the only major newspaper in Ottawa and the Thompsons' Winnipeg Free Press the only major newspaper in Winnipeg.

The ''Royal Commission on Newspapers'', popularly known as the Kent Commission, was created in 1980 in response to allegations of collusion following the same-day closings of the Thomson-owned ''Ottawa Journal'' and the Southam-owned ''Winnipeg Tribune''.

The last issue, with the headline "It's Been 90 Great Years", remains a collector's item to this day.

Afterward

A number of employees from the ''Tribune'' later helped form the ''Winnipeg Sun''.

The University of Manitoba

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