The
Barrie Examiner is the daily newspaper
for Barrie
, Ontario
and the
surrounding area.
History
The
Examiner was founded in 1864. Publisher William Manley
Nicholson launched the paper as an alternate to the
Northern
Advance, which already had a strong political voice in the
community of over 3,500 people.
In the years since then, the
Examiner has changed
ownership and location several times. In 1889, Nicholson sold the
newspaper to Andrew F. Hunter, who later wrote two volumes of the
History of Simcoe County (1909). Hunter sold his interests in 1895
to James Alexander MacLaren, a former city editor at the
Chatham Daily Banner. At the time, the
Examiner
was located at 169 Dunlop Street East.
By 1909, there was a thriving competition among newspapers of the
day; four weekly newspapers servedthe community with each
presenting a different political viewpoint. In August 1914, two
days before the
First World War, a
major fire changed the course of history at the
Examiner.
Although the fire caused extensive damage to the newspaper’s
building and equipment, MacLaren continued to publish with the help
of the rival
Saturday Morning weekly, owned by brothers
Fred and William Walls. MacLaren set up an office in the basement
of the Ross Block and used the composingroom and press equipment of
the
Saturday Morning to keep the paper coming out. Six
monthslater, MacLaren and William Walls joined forces to publish
The Barrie Examiner and
Saturday Morning.
Eventually, the paper’s name was shortened, although the
Examiner continued to publish the paper out of the
Saturday Morning offices. The successful partnership
lasted 25 years, until Wall’s death in 1939. The next year, the
Examiner bought its competitor, the
Northern
Advance.
During the post-war years, Barrie started to boom, and the
Examiner grew along with it. In 1948,the
Examiner
began publishing twice weekly and launched a busy commercial
printing business. By1952, the paper had boosted production to
three times a week - Monday, Wednesday and Friday.Over the years,
the
Examiner was often recognized as one of the finest
weekly newspapers in the country. As a sixtime winner of the Mason
Trophy, the newspaper was honoured as best all-round newspaper in
Canada.
In 1957, the
Examiner was sold to Thompson
Newspapers Limited. The company immediatelyembarked on an expansion
and began building a modern commercial printing plant at its new
locationat 16 Bayfield Street. The downtown location served as the
home of the
Examiner for the next 43 years. The
Examiner began publishing daily on Nov. 16, 1958.
On July 28, 1995, the
Examiner’s top story was the sale of
the newspaper to Hollinger Inc. controlled by well-known Canadian
businessman
Conrad Black. In December
1999, the
Examiner opened the doors to its current home at
571 Bayfield Street North, along with Georgian Web, a
state-of-the-art printing facility.
On August 1, 2001, Osprey Media Group Inc., headed by Michael
Sifton, the former president ofHollinger Canadian Newspapers,
bought the
Examiner. Osprey now publishes 32 newspapers
across
Ontario.
On May 31, 2007, Osprey Media was acquired by
Quebecor Media Group for $517 million,
creating Canada's largest newspaper publishing enterprise.
The
Barrie Examiner has been telling the stories of Barrie and
surrounding area for over 140 years, chronicling the history of the
people and events that have made the city what it is today.
Present Day
The
Examiner is owned by
Sun
Media Inc. The newspaper is located in one of the fastest
growing communities in the country.
The newspaper publishes six days a week, Monday to Saturday. It
serves the City of Barrie, in about 150,000 homes each week. On
Thursday, The
Examiner delivers the full edition of the
paper free to all residents in Barrie. In addition, every Friday
the
Innisfil Examiner is published and delivered to more
than 13,000 residents in
Innisfil.
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