The Winnipeg Free Press (or WFP; founded as the Manitoba Free Press) is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheetnewspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, national, and international news, as well as current events in sports, business, and entertainment and various consumer-oriented features, such as homes and automobiles appear on a weekly basis.
The WFP was founded in 1872, only two years after Manitoba became part of Canada, in 1870. The WFP's founding predated Winnipeg's own incorporation, in 1873.[2][3][4] The Winnipeg Free Press has since become the oldest newspaper in Western Canada that is still active.
Timeline
November 30, 1872: The Manitoba Free Press was launched by William Fisher Luxton and John A. Kenny.[2] Luxton bought a press in New York City and, along with Kenny, rented a shack at 555 Main Street, near the present corner of Main Street and James Avenue.[5]
1874: The paper moved to a new building on Main Street, across from St. Mary Avenue.[5]
1882: Control of the Free Press was passed on to Clifford Sifton.[5] The organization subsequently moved to a building on McDermot Avenue, where it would remain until 1900.[5]
1900: The paper moved to a new address on McDermot Avenue at Albert Street.[5]
December 2, 1931: The paper was renamed the Winnipeg Free Press.[5]
1991: The Free Press moved to its current location in the Inkster Industrial Park, a CA$150 million plant[2] at 1355 Mountain Avenue.[5]
Former newspaper headquarters on Carlton Street
December2001: The Free Press and its sister paper, Brandon Sun, were bought from Thomson Newspapers by FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership.[2]
Strike
In 2008, at noon on Thanksgiving Day (Monday, October 13), about 1,000 members of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, representing editorial, advertising, circulation, and press staff, as well as newspaper carriers, launched a strike action.[7] The strike ended 16 days later, when the union ratified the final offer on Tuesday, October 28.[8] The contract was ratified by 67% of newspaper carriers, 75% of the pressmen, and 91% of the inside workers, including journalists.[9] The recent five-year contract was negotiated, ratified, and signed in 2013, with no threat of a strike. Workers and managers negotiated directly with great success, without the need of a lawyer that previous contracts had required.[10]
Circulation
As of November 1, 2009, the WFP ceased publishing a regular Sunday edition. In its place, a Sunday-only tabloid called On 7 was launched, but it has since been discontinued.
On March 27, 2011, the impending arrival of Metro in the Winnipeg market caused the Sunday newspaper to be retooled as a broadsheet format, Winnipeg Free Press SundayXtra.[11] The Sunday edition is now available exclusively online.
According to figures via Canadian Newspaper Association, the Free Press' average weekday circulation for 2013 was 108,583, while on Saturdays it was 144,278.[12] Because of the relatively small population of Manitoba, that meant that over 10% of the population could be receiving the paper and its advertisements. Like most Canadian daily newspapers, the Free Press has seen a decline in circulation, dropping its total by 17% to 106,473 copies daily from 2009 to 2015.[13]
As of 2023, the Winnipeg Free Press media kit claims that 1.15 million users visit the newspaper's network of sites each month, and that in Winnipeg, 439,000 adults read the publication in print or digital format each week.[14]
Notable staff
Charles Edwards (1928 – early-1930s): journalist and news agency executive[15]
Bartley Kives (2000–2016): arts and news writer; left to join CBWT-DT as a television journalist.
Vince Leah (1980–1993): journalist, writer, sports administrator and member of the Order of Canada[16][17]
Bob Moir (1948–1958): television producer, sports commentator, and journalist[18]
Hal Sigurdson (1951–1963; 1976–1996): columnist and sports editor from 1976 to 1989[19]
Maurice Smith (1927–1937; 1940–1976): columnist and sports editor from 1944 to 1976[20]
Scott Young (1936–1940): sports writer from 1936 to 1940[21]
^ ab"Daily Newspaper Circulation Data". News Media Canada. Retrieved December 16, 2017. Figures refer to the total circulation (print and digital combined), which includes paid and unpaid copies.
