Times-Colonist (Victoria)
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| Type | Daily newspaper |
| Format | Broadsheet |
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| Owner | CanWest Global Communications Corp. |
| Publisher | Bob McKenzie |
| Editor | Lucinda Chodan |
| Founded | 1884/1858/1980 |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | Victoria, Canada |
| Circulation | 71,215 - 72,988 as of 30 September 2006 |
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| Website: www.timescolonist.com | |
The Times Colonist is an English-language daily newspaper in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It was formed by the merger, in 1980, of the Victoria Daily Times, established in 1884, and the British Colonist (later the Daily Colonist), established in 1858 by Amor De Cosmos, who was also British Columbia's second premier.
The Times Colonist is owned by CanWest Global Communications of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Other daily newspapers in the group, as listed on the CanWest website, include the Vancouver Sun, the Vancouver Province, the Edmonton Journal, the Calgary Herald, the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, the Regina Leader Post, the Ottawa Citizen, the Windsor Star, The Gazette of Montreal, and the National Post. CH News Vancouver Island is also owned by CanWest Global, and often works with the Times Colonist on stories. As well, CanWest Global owns a number of other Vancouver Island papers, including the Nanaimo Daily News, Alberni Valley Times, Cowichan Citizen and Comox Valley Echo.
Local news receives the greatest prominence in the Times Colonist. Stories and photographs about Greater Victoria are often featured on the front page. But the newspaper also has national and international stories, plus sections covering the arts, sports, and business.
According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, in the six months ending September 30, 2006, the average daily paid circulation for the Times Colonist, Monday to Friday, was 71,215; on Sunday it was 71,458; on Saturday it was 72,988.
The Times Colonist is published seven days a week and is sold by subscription or at newsstands. It is the region's only daily newspaper staffed by local reporters. There is also a free daily paper produced by the Black Press group, which runs a chain of local community newspapers, but it is filled almost entirely with wire stories from other parts of Canada and has comparatively little local content. Black Press also produces twice-weekly community papers that compete with the Times Colonist for readership and are distributed for free, through home delivery and in boxes in high-traffic public areas.
As of March 2006, the newsroom of the Times Colonist was staffed by an estimated 12 full-time news reporters, a news columnist, two business reporters, five full-time photographers and one part-time photographer. Two reporters were based out of the B.C. Legislature. There were also arts, life and sports reporters, along with various section editors, copy editors, layout designers, graphic artists, photo techs, and editorial assistants.
The Times Colonist has won a number of provincial and national awards. The Times Colonist and Vancouver Sun were co-winners of the 2005 Jack Webster Foundation award for Best News Reporting. The Webster awards are widely considered the highest honour in British Columbia journalism. The Times Colonist was also nominated for two 2005 National Newspaper awards, considered the highest honour in Canadian journalism.
[edit] Controversy
In the summer 2005, the Times Colonist fired veteran reporter Vivian Smith after she wrote an article promoting free and inexpensive activities for tourists and criticizing the high cost of many traditional Victoria tourist hotspots. Online news sources The Tyee and Public Eye Online covered the story extensively, and their reporting suggests Smith was fired due to pressure from business interests. Smith was eventually rehired. To date the Times Colonist has never released a statement on the affair.[1]
