Packet Newspapers

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Falmouth & Penryn Packet; Helston Packet; The Packet (incorporating Truro and Camborne & Redruth); West Cornwall Packet
TypeWeekly newspapers
FormatTabloid
Owner(s)Newsquest
Founded1829
HeadquartersFalmouth, Cornwall
Websitehttp://www.thepacket.co.uk

Packet Newspapers (Cornwall) Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Newsquest media group, which publishes the Packet series of weekly tabloid newspapers.[1][2]

The series is named after the Falmouth Packet service, which commenced operation in about 1688.[3][4]

Circulation[]

Weekly circulation for all Packet titles was 39,350 as of 27 February 2013,[5] 32% greater than that of their regional rival, Northcliffe Media's The West Briton, which had a circulation of 29,710 on the same date.[5]

The Falmouth & Penryn Packet[]

The Falmouth & Penryn Packet is a weekly tabloid newspaper sold in and around the towns of Falmouth and Penryn on the southern coast of western Cornwall.[6]

Several newspapers have borne the title Falmouth Packet in the past. The earliest, founded in 1801, was the Cornwall Gazette & Falmouth Packet, which lasted under that title for less than two years when the proprietor, one Thomas Flindell (1767-1824), was imprisoned for debt. It was the first Cornish newspaper.[7]

In 1803 Flindell moved his operations to Truro and started the Royal Cornwall Gazette and Western Advertiser, which ultimately was absorbed into The West Briton following a bitter feud between the two publications.[7]

The second Falmouth Packet was the Falmouth Packet & Cornish Herald, founded in 1829 and published until 1848. The third, Lake's Falmouth Packet & Cornwall Advertiser, is the ancestor of the present-day Falmouth & Penryn Packet; it started publication in 1858.[6]

The current Falmouth & Penryn Packet is the lead title in a series of Packet weekly paid-for tabloids for central and western Cornwall.[6]

The Helston Packet[]

The Helston Packet is a weekly tabloid newspaper sold in and around the town of Helston in southern Cornwall, including Porthleven, Mullion and The Lizard peninsula. It was first published in 1969.[8]

All Packet titles are published by Packet Newspapers from editorial offices in Falmouth.[6]

Website[]

All the Packet titles, plus the closely associated Helston & District Gazette, share a common website - www.thepacket.co.uk.[6]

Company history[]

Packet Newspapers used to be part of the Express Newspapers group (and, before that, its predecessor Beaverbrook Newspapers), but as of 1987 is a subsidiary of the Newsquest newspaper group's South West division.

There are currently (February 2013) four Packets - The Falmouth/Penryn Packet, The Helston Packet, The West Cornwall Packet, and The Packet (covering Truro, Camborne and Redruth); in 2010 the Penwith Pirate was replaced by the West Cornwall Packet. They all come out on Wednesdays.[9][10][11]

References[]

  1. ^ "Newsquest - Our titles". Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  2. ^ "Newsquest Office Finder - Falmouth". Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  3. ^ ""The Packet service and the packet ships gave their name to this newspaper." - First Packet post for 160 years sets sail from Falmouth and Penryn (from Falmouth Packet) 1 July 2012". Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  4. ^ "Falmouth Packet, 1 August 2008: Walk around Falmouth". Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  5. ^ a b "ABC figures: How all the weeklies performed - Journalism News from HoldtheFrontPage by Paul Linford, last updated on February 27, 2013". Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  6. ^ a b c d e "British Newspapers Online entry for Falmouth & Penryn Packet". Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  7. ^ a b Brake, Laurel; Demoor, Marysa (2009). Dictionary of Nineteenth-Century Journalism in Great Britain and Ireland - Laurel Brake, Marysa Demoor - Google Books. ISBN 9789038213408. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  8. ^ "British Newspapers Online entry for Helston Packet". Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  9. ^ "British Newspapers Online entry for Falmouth & Penryn Packet". Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  10. ^ "British Newspapers Online entry for Helston Packet". Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  11. ^ "Companies House entry for Packet Newspapers (Cornwall) Limited". Retrieved 30 July 2012.

See also[]

  • Media in Cornwall


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