The ''Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant'' is a newspaper for the province of

Zeeland , nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge") , anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem") , image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg , map_alt = , m ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

published and owned by

DPG Media DPG Media Group is a Belgian media company also active in the Netherlands and Denmark. It is owned by the Van Thillo family and employs some 6,000 people. Divisions The DPG Media Group operates through three national subsidiaries: * DPG Media ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. Founded in 1758, it is the third-oldest newspaper of the

History

19th century: Middelburgsche Courant

The paper is a merger of a number of regional papers, the oldest of which was the ''Middelburgsche Courant'', founded in 1758 in

Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...

. One of its scoops was hiring the first female reporter in the Netherlands, in 1885.

20th century: Forming the Provinciale Zeeuwsche Courant

In 1933, the ''Middelburgsche Courant'' acquired a paper from

Goes Goes () is a city and municipality in the southwestern Netherlands on Zuid-Beveland, in the province of Zeeland. The city of Goes has approximately 27,000 residents. History Goes was founded in the 10th century on the edge of a creek: de Korte ...

, the ''Goesche Courant''. In 1939, it merged with the ''Vlissingsche Courant'', founded 1869 in

Vlissingen Vlissingen (; zea, label=Zeelandic, Vlissienge), historically known in English as Flushing, is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic l ...

, and became the ''Provinciale Zeeuwsche Courant''. In 1946 another

newspaper, ''Vrije Stemmen: Dagblad voor Zeeland'', merged into PZC. Vrije Stemmen started as an underground newspaper during

WWII 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 ...

. In 1998 ''PZC'' acquired the '' Zierikzeesche Nieuwsbode'', founded in 1844 by Pieter de Looze of

Zierikzee Zierikzee () is a small city in the southwest Netherlands, 50 km southwest of Rotterdam. It is situated in the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland, Zeeland. The city hall of Schouwen-Duiveland is located in Zierikzee, its largest city. Zierikze ...

21st century: Decreasing readership

In 2006 ''PZC''s circulation was 58,000, down 3% from the year before, following a trend among Dutch regional newspapers. In 2007 and 2008 hovered around 52,000. Visitors to the paper's website brought the total readership up to 250,000 in 2008. In 2008 PZC celebrated its 250th anniversary in the presence of

Beatrix of the Netherlands Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix is the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and her husband ...

, who received a copy of the commemorative book ''PZC 250 Jaar''. In 2010 Wegener was fined 20 million Euros by the Dutch

competition regulator A competition regulator is the institution that oversees the functioning of the markets. And the Law in which it takes cognizance of situations having any type of impediments and distortions on the markets and correct them is the competition law ...

, the Nederlandse Mededingingsautoriteit. Wegener also owned ''BN/De Stem'', a regional newspaper in west

North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to the we ...

that published a Zeeland edition. ''BN/De Stem'' had been acquired by Wegener in 2000 when it took over VNU, and it had been required to keep both papers editorially separate to continue to offer readers a choice between two independent newspapers. In 2009 complaints had come in that Wegener had combined operations as a cost-cutting measure, leading to the 2010 verdict. In 2010, 48% of the paper's paid subscribers share the paper with their neighbors, the highest such number among Dutch newspapers. In 2012 circulation was down to 49,948 copies. In 2015 Wegener was sold to the

De Persgroep DPG Media Group is a Belgian media company also active in the Netherlands and Denmark. It is owned by the Van Thillo family and employs some 6,000 people. Divisions The DPG Media Group operates through three national subsidiaries: * DPG Media ...

, now known as

References

{{Dutch newspapers Dutch-language newspapers Daily newspapers published in the Netherlands Mass media in Zeeland Vlissingen