{"id":3775,"date":"2024-08-26T06:42:14","date_gmt":"2024-08-26T10:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toronto1.one\/?p=3775"},"modified":"2024-12-03T09:51:13","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T14:51:13","slug":"what-were-torontos-first-newspapers-about","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toronto1.one\/en\/eternal\/what-were-torontos-first-newspapers-about-3775","title":{"rendered":"What Were Toronto\u2019s First Newspapers About?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The future of Toronto\u2019s newspapers might not seem particularly bright. However, there was a time when printed news spread as quickly as blogs do today. While not entirely comparable, newspapers were undoubtedly more popular in the past than they are today. Read more on <a href=\"https:\/\/toronto1.one\/\">toronto1.one<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Focusing on international news delivered via telegraphs, the Atlantic, and irreverence borrowed from American tabloids, Toronto eventually developed its own distinctive style of reporting. By the turn of the century, modern print journalism thrived in Toronto. While early newspapers were often known for their conservative views and crime coverage more sensational than today\u2019s Toronto Sun, they were also lauded for factual accuracy, international coverage, and a staunch advocacy for the separation of church and state. Let\u2019s delve into some of Toronto\u2019s earliest and most notable newspapers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a447163e2d7a\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a447163e2d7a\"  aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/toronto1.one\/en\/eternal\/what-were-torontos-first-newspapers-about-3775\/#The_Upper_Canada_Gazette_1798%E2%80%931849\" >The Upper Canada Gazette (1798\u20131849)<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/toronto1.one\/en\/eternal\/what-were-torontos-first-newspapers-about-3775\/#Colonial_Advocate_1824%E2%80%931834\" >Colonial Advocate (1824\u20131834)<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/toronto1.one\/en\/eternal\/what-were-torontos-first-newspapers-about-3775\/#Toronto_Royal_Standard_1836%E2%80%931837\" >Toronto Royal Standard (1836\u20131837)<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/toronto1.one\/en\/eternal\/what-were-torontos-first-newspapers-about-3775\/#The_GlobeMail_and_EmpireGlobe_and_Mail_1844%E2%80%93Present\" >The Globe\/Mail and Empire\/Globe and Mail (1844\u2013Present)<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/toronto1.one\/en\/eternal\/what-were-torontos-first-newspapers-about-3775\/#Toronto_Standard_and_General_Advertiser_1848%E2%80%931849\" >Toronto Standard and General Advertiser (1848\u20131849)<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/toronto1.one\/en\/eternal\/what-were-torontos-first-newspapers-about-3775\/#Toronto_Evening_TelegraphTelegram_1866%E2%80%931971\" >Toronto Evening Telegraph\/Telegram (1866\u20131971)<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/toronto1.one\/en\/eternal\/what-were-torontos-first-newspapers-about-3775\/#Toronto_Daily_StarToronto_Star_1892%E2%80%93Present\" >Toronto Daily Star\/Toronto Star (1892\u2013Present)<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Upper_Canada_Gazette_1798%E2%80%931849\"><\/span>The Upper Canada Gazette (1798\u20131849)<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Upper Canada Gazette, published between 1798 and 1849, was the first newspaper in the region. It served a purpose very different from today\u2019s publications. According to a proclamation by John Graves Simcoe, the first lieutenant-governor of the area, the Gazette\u2019s primary role was to print government decisions and actions, giving it a \u201csemi-official status.\u201d Despite being a weekly publication, it was known for its erratic publishing schedule and technical errors. Additionally, during the American occupation of Toronto in 1813\u20131814, the Gazette ceased operations temporarily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.toronto1.one\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2024\/12\/ad_4nxdi8zlzaszbo4myndz8mhizctxx08q4xua1vsgycmqa8kqrxph8ajyonjrfncpul1fcu5dsnwzyekjht6czxwtgjqokrrj2zpc8e6ctnjsqvljmlksnipdoyajdoctpsfuhtdd7wwkey93cb-0p5q04ptp8viyc69x1u.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Colonial_Advocate_1824%E2%80%931834\"><\/span>Colonial Advocate (1824\u20131834)<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Colonial Advocate was first published on May 18, 1824, by William Lyon Mackenzie in Queenston, Ontario. This was the first of seven newspapers Mackenzie would publish. Two years later, as detailed on a commemorative plaque near Mackenzie\u2019s home and press, political opponents raided the newspaper\u2019s offices following his attacks on the Family Compact. Courts awarded Mackenzie damages for the raid, allowing him to resume publication shortly thereafter. Mackenzie later became Toronto\u2019s first mayor in 1834. The Advocate ceased publication in November that same year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the early 1830s, the reform movement gained momentum, with the Colonial Advocate playing a central role in the Upper Canada Rebellion after Mackenzie exposed the self-serving interests of the Family Compact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Toronto_Royal_Standard_1836%E2%80%931837\"><\/span>Toronto Royal Standard (1836\u20131837)<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Toronto Royal Standard was Upper Canada\u2019s first daily newspaper, operating from 1836 to 1837. Published by Sir Francis Bond Head, it was a staunchly conservative outlet, which was not unusual for the time. However, its operations ended prematurely when the assembly refused to fund \u00a325 for preparing accurate daily parliamentary reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_GlobeMail_and_EmpireGlobe_and_Mail_1844%E2%80%93Present\"><\/span>The Globe\/Mail and Empire\/Globe and Mail (1844\u2013Present)<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Today\u2019s Globe and Mail is the product of several mergers, including The Globe, The Mail, and The Empire, which consolidated in 1936. The Mail and Empire, itself a merger of the Toronto Mail and the Toronto Empire in 1895, never achieved the prominence of The Globe, widely considered to have ushered in the modern era of journalism in Toronto and Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.toronto1.one\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2024\/12\/ad_4nxdmvaus6gpgrotjeex7tasrfli1edj0wccjobcqp2bemd6zedsggockpwttpvshp_nhe55hxzhempepf6wmdh1hbo5lpt2d9v7tv6jzniuvkvpkp_e_p1ocyfbcd_c28aui9xlirwkey93cb-0p5q04ptp8viyc69x1u.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Globe was founded in 1844 by George Brown, who secured funding from reformers. A savvy entrepreneur, Brown capitalized on new printing technologies and owned Ontario\u2019s first modern printing press. By 1860, he published 3,000 copies daily. Brown\u2019s use of transatlantic telegraphs for international news added sophistication to his paper. His policies advocated for church-state separation and laid the groundwork for Canada\u2019s modern Liberal Party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Toronto_Standard_and_General_Advertiser_1848%E2%80%931849\"><\/span>Toronto Standard and General Advertiser (1848\u20131849)<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Toronto Standard and General Advertiser, a weekly published by James Northey, promoted conservative values and Protestant supremacy. Remarkably, the publication was revived as a \u201cdaily digital briefing\u201d in April 2011 under Lee Polydor. However, its editorial values, style, and themes have since evolved significantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.toronto1.one\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2024\/12\/ad_4nxcjatxkzawg034mpgc5c4f-1ctzzjzvevkjfaelaphauijtpenguma12clazb-yn4va0fe6rsrihq8qjtcxkhrcnws7egy-myzvgtzbss41ebvn7qb5jmgtjd2bvd23pefvzjyafakey93cb-0p5q04ptp8viyc69x1u.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Toronto_Evening_TelegraphTelegram_1866%E2%80%931971\"><\/span>Toronto Evening Telegraph\/Telegram (1866\u20131971)<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Toronto Evening Telegraph, founded in 1866 by John Ross Robertson, aimed to rival The Globe by blending conservatism with sensationalism. Although initially unsuccessful, Robertson relaunched it as the Evening Telegram in 1876, later known as Tely. Designed for the \u201ccommon man,\u201d the Telegram adopted an American editorial style, transforming news into entertainment. Its content often defended Toronto\u2019s treasury against \u201ccrackpot schemers.\u201d In 1971, the Telegram unofficially became today\u2019s Toronto Sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Toronto_Daily_StarToronto_Star_1892%E2%80%93Present\"><\/span>Toronto Daily Star\/Toronto Star (1892\u2013Present)<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Legend has it that The Evening Star, later renamed the Toronto Daily Star and eventually The Toronto Star, was created overnight by 21 printers and four teenage apprentices locked out during a labor dispute at The Afternoon News. Initially struggling to gain readership, the paper\u2019s fortunes changed in 1899 when Joseph Atkinson became editor. Serving until 1948, Atkinson emphasized strong social values like welfare, healthcare, and pensions, shaping Canada\u2019s modern social welfare system. In 1971, the Star adopted its current name and moved to its iconic 1 Yonge Street headquarters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sources<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blogto.com\/city\/2020\/11\/how-toronto-people-used-get-their-news-1800s-and-1900s\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BlogTO: How Toronto People Used to Get Their News<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.torontojourney416.com\/toronto-telegram\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Toronto Journey 416<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blogto.com\/city\/2020\/11\/how-toronto-people-used-get-their-news-1800s-and-1900s\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BlogTO: Toronto\u2019s Early Newspapers<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The future of Toronto\u2019s newspapers might not seem particularly bright. However, there was a time when printed news spread as quickly as blogs do today. While not entirely comparable, newspapers were undoubtedly more popular in the past than they are today. Read more on toronto1.one. Focusing on international news delivered via telegraphs, the Atlantic, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":469,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1164],"tags":[2755,2864,2865,2867,2868,2866,2869],"moimportance":[78,81],"motype":[1158],"moformat":[90],"class_list":{"0":"post-3775","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business","7":"tag-history","8":"tag-history-of-the-newspaper","9":"tag-journalists","10":"tag-newspapers","11":"tag-printing-houses","12":"tag-the-upper-canada-gazette-was-the-first-such-newspaper","13":"tag-what-were-torontos-first-newspapers-about","14":"moimportance-golovna-novina","15":"moimportance-retranslyacziya-v-agregatori","16":"motype-eternal","17":"moformat-spisok-korotka"},"modified_by":"Katya Koshevaya","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toronto1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toronto1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toronto1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toronto1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/469"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toronto1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3775"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/toronto1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3775\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3785,"href":"https:\/\/toronto1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3775\/revisions\/3785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toronto1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toronto1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toronto1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3775"},{"taxonomy":"moimportance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toronto1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moimportance?post=3775"},{"taxonomy":"motype","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toronto1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/motype?post=3775"},{"taxonomy":"moformat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toronto1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moformat?post=3775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}