The Yorkshire Post

The Yorkshire Post is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. It primarily covers stories from Yorkshire, although its masthead carries the slogan "Yorkshire's National Newspaper". It was previously owned by Johnston Press and is now owned by National World. Founded in 1754, it is one of the oldest newspapers in the country.

Not to be confused with Yorkshire Evening Post.

The Yorkshire Post
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)Yorkshire Post Newspapers (National World)
EditorJames Mitchinson
Founded1754
HeadquartersLeeds, England
Circulation10,634 (as of 2023)[1]
Sister newspapersYorkshire Evening Post
ISSN0963-1496
WebsiteThe Yorkshire Post

Editions are available throughout the United Kingdom with offices across Yorkshire in Harrogate, Hull, Scarborough, Sheffield and York, as well as correspondents in Westminster and the City of London. The current editor is James Mitchinson.[2] It considers itself "one of Britain's most trusted and historic newsbrands."[3]

History
The former Yorkshire Post headquarters at Wellington Street, Leeds. It is now located at No. 1 Leeds, 26 Whitehall Road.[4]

The paper was founded in 1754, as the Leeds Intelligencer, making it one of Britain's first daily newspapers. The Leeds Intelligencer was a weekly newspaper until it was purchased by a group of Conservatives in 1865 who then published daily under the current name.[5]

The first issue of The Yorkshire Post, on 2 July 1866, included the following statement:

the political principles of this journal are Conservative; while supporting every practical improvement, it will resist organic changes ... It will be at once conservative and progressive, a foe to democracy and revolution, but the firm friend of all constitutional reform.

— The Yorkshire Post, 2 July 1866[6]

The newspaper broke the story of the Edward VIII abdication crisis under the editorship of Arthur Mann.[7] In 1939, The Yorkshire Post absorbed a rival, the Leeds Mercury, which was founded in 1718 and was liberal in comparison to the Leeds Intelligencer from the late 18th century, and under the editorship of Edward Baines and his son (also named Edward Baines).[8] At its peak in the 1950s, The Yorkshire Post sold 120,000 copies a day. This figure had dropped to 40,000 by 2012,[7] rising to nearer 90,000 on a weekend. By the second half of 2017, it was selling less than 22,000 copies a day,[9] and circulation further declined to just 18,534 for the period January to June 2019. As well as publishing regular supplements on sport, rural affairs, culture and motoring it runs an extensive business section with two weekly pull-out supplements.

In 2012, as its parent company Johnston Press sought to cut costs, it was merged with the Yorkshire Evening Post – the local newspaper for the Leeds city region - with the then editor, Peter Charlton, overseeing both titles. The merger saw the formation of combined departments for news, business, sport and features – with correspondents writing for both titles.

In February 2012 Johnston Press announced that printing of the Yorkshire Post and Yorkshire Evening Post in Leeds would be switched to their plant at Dinnington near Sheffield and the Leeds printing facility closed.

In September 2013, it was announced the Wellington Street premises would be demolished. Journalists had already vacated the building. Preliminary demolition began in March 2014, while in April 2014 it was announced the tower would be spared.

In March 2014, 'The' was reintroduced on the name of the paper after 46 years.[10]

The Yorkshire Post achieved wider attention during the 2019 general election campaign, following the publication of a story about a boy being treated on the floor of Leeds General Infirmary which was published by sister title the Yorkshire Evening Post. The papers faced criticism on social media and in correspondence from readers, and editor James Mitchinson wrote an open letter to a reader defending the titles and their journalism.[11][12]

Editors

Adapted from the official website:[13]

  • 1754: Griffith Wright
  • 1785: Thomas Wright
  • 1805: Griffith Wright Jr
  • 1819: William Cooke Stafford
  • 1822: Alaric Watts
  • 1842: W. T. Bolland
  • 1848: Christopher Kemplay
  • 1866: John R. K. Ralph
  • 1882: Charles Pebody
  • 1890: H. J. Palmer
  • 1903: J. S. R. Phillips
  • 1920: Arthur Mann
  • 1939: Linton Andrews
  • 1961: Kenneth Young
  • 1964: J. Edward Crossley
  • 1969: John Edwards
  • 1989: Tony Watson
  • 2003: Rachael Campey
  • 2004: Peter Charlton
  • 2013: Jeremy Clifford
  • 2015: James Mitchinson

References
  1. "Leeds - Yorkshire Post". Audit Bureau of Circulations (UK). 29 August 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  2. "Contact us". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  3. "We're on the side of truth; we are calling for an end to the general election lies; the deception; the fakery". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  4. "Old Yorkshire Post Leeds HQ set for demolition". Yorkshire Post. 10 September 2013.
  5. Caunce, Stephen (1993). "Yorkshire Post Newspapers Ltd: Perseverance rewarded". In Chartres, John; Honeyman, Katrina (eds.). Leeds City Business. Leeds University Press. pp. 24–56. ISBN 0-85316-157-7.
  6. Caunce, Stephen (1993). "Yorkshire Post Newspapers Ltd: Perseverance rewarded". In John Chartres and Katrina Honeyman (ed.). Leeds City Business. Leeds University Press. p. 28. ISBN 0-85316-157-7.
  7. Sweney, Mark (14 April 2012). "Yorkshire Post publisher scraps editors' posts on regional papers". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  8. Brake, Laurel; Demoor, Marysa, eds. (2009). Dictionary of nineteenth-century journalism in Great Britain and Ireland. Gent: Academia Press. p. 354. ISBN 9789038213408.
  9. Linford, Paul (1 March 2018). "JP dailies post circulation rises as ABC figures unveiled". HoldTheFrontPage. UK. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  10. "Yorkshire Post Reinstates 'The' After 46-year Absence". Johnston Press. 10 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  11. "BBC Radio 4 - The Media Show, Fake news, strong views, Yorkshire and me". BBC. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  12. "'Do not believe a stranger on social media who disappears into the night' - An open letter from our editor to you". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  13. "In the editor's chair", Yorkshire Post, 2 July 2004

Further reading
  • Merrill, John C. and Harold A. Fisher. The world's great dailies: profiles of fifty newspapers (1980) pp. 366–72
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