The ''Kent Messenger'' is a weekly newspaper serving the mid-

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

area. It is published in three editions -

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it wi ...

, Malling, and the

Weald The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the ...

. It is owned by the

KM Group KM Media Group is a multimedia company in the county of Kent, England which originated as the publisher of the Kent Messenger. The Group now produces local newspapers, radio stations and websites throughout the county. Iliffe Media acquired KM ...

and is published on Thursdays.

History

The ''Kent Messenger'' grew from the ''Maidstone Telegraph'' founded in the county town of Kent in 1859. It changed to its current name two years later. It was sold to the Boorman family in 1890 after its then owners, the Masters brothers, were jailed. In 1942 the Kent Messenger offices were used by

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

newspaper the ''

Kentish Gazette The ''Kentish Gazette'' is a weekly newspaper serving the city of Canterbury, Kent. It is owned by KM Group and published on Thursdays. It's Canterbury and Whitstable editions are the only local papers covering that area. History The newspaper ...

'' (then not owned by the Kent Messenger Group) after the Gazette's offices were destroyed by a

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

raid on Canterbury, in order to produce that week's copy of the Gazette. The ''Kent Messenger'' remains the flagship newspaper for the

. Besides the main edition for Maidstone, editions are also published for Malling and the Weald. Along with the rest of the KM-owned papers, the ''Kent Messenger'' was given a design overhaul in May 2005. The current editor is Denise Eaton.

Offices

The ''Kent Messenger'' is based at the KM Group's Maidstone office. The offices also housed the paper's sister radio station

KMFM Maidstone KMFM Maidstone is an Independent Local Radio serving the town of Maidstone and the surrounding areas in Kent, South East England. It is the Maidstone region of the KMFM radio network (owned by the KM Group), containing local advertisements and ...

until the station moved to the Medway offices in 2008.Maidstone's KMFM leaves town

Circulation

The paper's circulation as of the first half of 2009 was 44,492. This represented a drop of 10.7% against the same period the previous year.

References

{{reflist

External links

''Kent Messenger'' Website
Borough of Maidstone Tonbridge and Malling Newspapers published in Kent KM Group newspapers Weekly newspapers published in the United Kingdom Newspapers established in 1859 1859 establishments in England