''The Daily News'' was a tabloid

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

, that was published from 1974 until ceasing operations in February 2008.

History

''The Daily News'' owed its existence to

David Bentley David Michael Bentley (born 27 August 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played primarily as a winger, but also played as a central midfielder or as a second striker. Bentley started his career with Arsenal in the Premie ...

, who, along with his wife Diana and Patrick and Joyce Sims, founded The Great Eastern News Company Ltd. in 1974 and started publishing a weekly broadsheet named ''The Bedford-Sackville News''. This paper focused on the suburban communities of

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

and Lower Sackville within the Halifax-Dartmouth metropolitan area. The Great Eastern News Company Ltd. was initially published out of Bentley's home but a press was acquired in 1978 and the company moved into a new building. A year later the format changed to a tabloid and began publishing six days a week as ''The Bedford-Sackville Daily News''. The paper gained a reputation for printing stories not covered by its competition, ''

The Chronicle Herald ''The Chronicle Herald'' is a broadsheet newspaper published in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada owned by SaltWire Network of Halifax. The paper's newsroom staff were locked out of work from January 2016 until August 2017. ''Herald'' management con ...

'', some of which were considered sensational. In 1981, Bentley's company moved to downtown Halifax from its suburban base and redubbed its tabloid as ''The Daily News'', while gaining a reputation for hard-hitting stories and expanded sports coverage. In 1985 the Newfoundland Capital Corporation gained a controlling interest in the paper and complete ownership in 1987 which resulted in a move to Dartmouth. The paper was subsequently redesigned and a press upgrade made it one of the first papers in Atlantic Canada to incorporate colour; on October 2, 1988 it became the first paper in the region to publish a Sunday edition. Under NCC ownership, the tendency for sensational coverage was tempered as the paper became more mainstream. On July 1, 1997 NCC sold the paper to

Southam Newspapers 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 ...

, which was controlled by Conrad Black's

Hollinger Corporation Hollinger Inc. was a Media of Canada, Canadian media company based in Toronto which was established by businessman Conrad Black. At one time, the company was the third-largest media empire in the world. The company went bankrupt in 2007. History ...

. On November 15, 2000, Hollinger sold ''The Daily News'', along with the majority of its major Southam papers to

CanWest Global Communications Canwest Global Communications Corporation, which operated under the corporate name Canwest, was a major Canadian media conglomerate based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with its head offices at Canwest Place. It held radio, television broadcasting an ...

in what was termed the biggest media deal in Canadian history. Over several years, CanWest Global attempted to use ''The Daily News'' to bolster its news team at its

Global Maritimes CIHF-DT (channel 8) is a television station in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, part of the Global Television Network. Owned and operated by network parent Corus Entertainment, it is a sister station to CHNB-DT in Saint John, New Brunswick. The tw ...

TV station, however this ended on August 9, 2002 when the paper was sold to GTC Transcontinental Inc., along with other former Southam properties in eastern and western Canada. GTC Transcontinental redesigned the paper in 2003, maintaining the tabloid format and relocated it from Dartmouth to downtown Halifax.

Closure

On February 11, 2008, GTC Transcontinental executives made a surprise announcement to staff and readers that ''The Daily News'' would cease publication effective immediately, citing declining advertising revenue and circulation subscriptions. ''The Daily News'' was replaced with a local version of the free ''

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urb ...

'' newspaper aimed primarily at commuters. A total of 92 staff members from the newsroom, circulation department, and printing plant were given severance packages based upon 2 weeks salary per year of employment with the newspaper. The Halifax edition of ''Metro'' has rehired 20 staff members while other staff may be placed with GTC Transcontinental newspapers elsewhere in Atlantic Canada.

Additional information

* ''The Daily News'' is credited with being the first Canadian newspaper (and one of the first in the world) to have an online edition. * ''The Daily News'' published the work of the

political cartoonist An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary. Their cartoons are used to convey and question an aspect of daily news or curre ...

Michael de Adder Michael de Adder (born May 25, 1967) is a Canadian editorial cartoonist and caricaturist. Early life and education Born in Moncton, he attended Riverview High School (New Brunswick), Riverview High School. He then graduated from Mount Allison Un ...

. * The paper had a pullout Weekend HFX section. * The connection to Bedford-Sackville was maintained with a weekly insert dedicated to the suburban area in which it was founded. * The paper offered an internet edition using Zinio which allowed readers to view the actual hardcopy layout online.

References

External links

The Death of ''The Daily News''
Comprehensive coverage of the ''Daily News'' shutdown by the King's Journalism Review. {{DEFAULTSORT:Daily News, The 1974 establishments in Nova Scotia 2008 disestablishments in Nova Scotia Daily newspapers published in Nova Scotia Defunct newspapers published in Nova Scotia Newspapers published in Halifax, Nova Scotia Publications established in 1974 Publications disestablished in 2008 Transcontinental Media publications