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:''This article concerns the British newspaper. See ''The Daily Telegraph (Australia)'' for the Australian publication, ''The Telegraph'' for the Indian publication and ''De Telegraaf'' for the Dutch publication.''
'''The Daily Telegraph''' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in 1855. It is the only remaining daily newspaper printed on traditional newsprint in the Broadsheet format in the United Kingdom, as most other broadsheet publications have converted to the smaller tabloid/compact or Berliner formats. Its sister paper, '''The Sunday Telegraph''', was founded in 1961. In November 2006, the ''Telegraph'' was the highest selling British broadsheet, with a certified average daily circulation of 901,238. This compared with a circulation of 653,780 for ''The Times'', 253,737 for ''The Independent'', and 382,393 for ''The Guardian''.^[1] According to a MORI survey conducted in 2004, 61% of ''Telegraph'' readers support the Conservative Party.^[2]

Contents

List of editors

Political stance

Founding history

''The Sunday Telegraph''

Editors

Recent history

Satire

Notable mistakes

See also

Notes and references

External links

List of editors

Editors in recent years have been

★ Kingsley Wright

★ 1974: W. F. Deedes

★ 1986: Sir Max Hastings

★ 1989: Andrew Knight CEO, Editor-in-Chief

★ 1995: Charles Moore

★ 2003: Martin Newland

★ 2005: John Bryant (Editor-in-chief)

★ 2006: Will Lewis

Political stance

''The Daily Telegraph'' is traditionally politically conservative. The personal links between the paper's editors and the leadership of the Conservative Party, also known as Tories, along with the paper's influence over Conservative activists, results in the paper often being jokingly referred to, especially in ''Private Eye'', as the ''Torygraph''. However, in its early years it was associated with Gladstone and the Liberal party, coining the nickname "the people's William".

Founding history

''The Daily Telegraph'' was established on 29 June 1855 by Colonel Arthur B. Sleigh. He controlled it only briefly before selling it to his printer, Joseph Moses Levy, father of the first Baron Burnham. Levy appointed his sons as editors and relaunched the paper on 17 September. He soon reduced the price of the paper to a penny. Within twelve months the new paper was outselling ''The Times''.
In 1908, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany gave a controversial interview to ''The Daily Telegraph'' that severely damaged Anglo-German relations and added to international tensions which eventually culminated in World War I.
In 1928 the son of the 1st Baron Burnham sold it to the 1st Viscount Camrose, in partnership with his brother Viscount Kemsley and the 1st Baron Iliffe. Both the Camrose (Berry) and Burnham (Levy-Lawson) families remained involved in management until Conrad Black took control in 1986.
In 1937 the newspaper absorbed ''The Morning Post'' which traditionally espoused a conservative position and sold predominantly amongst the retired officer class. Originally William Ewart Berry, 1st Viscount Camrose bought ''The Morning Post'' with the intention of publishing it alongside the ''Daily Telegraph'', but poor sales of the former led him to merge the two. For some years the paper was retitled ''The Daily Telegraph and Morning Post'' before it reverted to just ''The Daily Telegraph''.

''The Sunday Telegraph''

''The Daily Telegraph's sister Sunday paper was founded in 1961. The writer Sir Peregrine Worsthorne is probably the best known journalist associated with the title (1961-97), eventually being editor for three years from 1986. In 1989 the Sunday title was briefly merged in to a seven-day operation under Max Hastings' overall control. In 2005 the paper was revamped, a glossy fashion magazine being added to the more traditional review section.

Editors

Its editors have included:

★ Roger Fowler Wright

★ J.W.M. Thompson (1976-1986)

★ Sir Peregrine Worsthorne (1986-1989)

★ Trevor Grove (1989-1992),

★ Charles Moore (1992-1995),

★ Dominic Lawson (1995-2005),

★ Sarah Sands (2005-2006)

★ Patience Wheatcroft (2006-2007)

★ Ian MacGregor (2007- )

Recent history

''The Daily Telegraph'' is owned by the Barclay brothers. Until January 2004 the newspaper group was controlled by Canadian businessman, Conrad, Lord Black. Black, through his holding company Ravelston Corporation, owned Hollinger Inc. which in turn owns 30% of Hollinger International and, under a deal masterminded by Andrew Knight through which Black bought the newspaper group in 1986, owns 78% of the voting rights. Hollinger Inc. also owns the liberal ''Chicago Sun-Times'', the ''Jerusalem Post'', and conservative publications such as ''The Spectator''.
On 18 January 2004, Black was dismissed as chairman of the Hollinger International board over allegations of financial wrongdoing. Black was also sued by the company. Later that day it was reported that the Barclay brothers had agreed to purchase Hollinger Inc. from Black, giving them the controlling interest in the newspaper group. They then launched a takeover bid for the rest of the group, valuing the company at £200m. However, a suit has been filed by the Hollinger International board with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to try to block Black selling shares in the company until an investigation into his dealings have been completed. Black filed a counter-suit but eventually United States judge Leo Strine sided with the Hollinger International board and blocked Black from selling his Hollinger Inc. shares and interests to the twins. On Sunday 7 March, the twins announced they were launching another takeover bid, this time just for the ''Daily Telegraph'' and its Sunday sister paper rather than the whole stable. Current owner of the ''Daily Express,'' Richard Desmond, was also interested in purchasing the paper, selling his interest in several pornographic magazines to finance the initiative. Desmond withdrew in March 2004 when the price climbed above £600m, as did Daily Mail and General Trust plc on 17 June.
Eventually, the Barclay brothers purchased Hollinger, and with it the ''Telegraph'', for around £665m in late June 2004.
Amidst the unraveling of the takeover Sir David Barclay suggested that ''The Daily Telegraph'' might in the future no longer be the "house newspaper" of the Conservatives. In an interview with ''The Guardian'' he said, "Where the government are right we will support them."
The editorial board endorsed the Conservative party in the 2005 general election.
15 November 2004 saw the tenth anniversary of the launch of the ''Telegraph's'' website Electronic Telegraph. Now re-launched as telegraph.co.uk, the website was the UK's first national newspaper online. Monday 8th May 2006 saw the first stage of a major redesign of ''the Telegraph's website, based on a wider page layout and greater prominence for audio, video and journalist blogs.
On 10 October 2005, the ''Daily Telegraph'' relaunched to incorporate a tabloid sports section and a new standalone business section. The ''Daily Mail's'' star columnist and political analyst Simon Heffer left that paper in October 2005 to rejoin the ''Daily Telegraph'', where he has become associate editor. Heffer, known for his combative style and wit, has written two columns a week for the ''Telegraph'' since late October 2005 and is a regular contributor to the news podcast.
Just before Christmas 2005, it was announced that the ''Telegraph'' titles will be moving from Canada Place in Canary Wharf, to Victoria Plaza near Victoria Station in central London. [1] The new office features a 'hub and spoke' layout for the newsroom, which will produce content for print and online editions.
In October 2006, with its relocation to Buckingham Palace Road, Victoria, the Telegraph rebranded itself the Telegraph Media Group, repositioning itself as a multimedia company.

Satire

In addition to the 'Daily Torygraph' (see above), ''Private Eye'' has also dubbed the ''Telegraph'' 'The Daily Hurleygraph' and 'The Daily Tottygraph' for their frequent printing of the pictures of Liz Hurley and other notable attractive women, or as the 'Maily Telegraph' and 'Daily Mailograph' for the ''Eye's opinion that the newspaper sometimes focuses on issues traditionally seen as the preserve of the ''Daily Mail''.

Notable mistakes

''The Daily Telegraph'' has erroneously published at least four premature obituaries:

★ Cockie Hoogterp, the second wife of Baron Blixen, in 1938 after the Baron's third wife died in a car accident. Mrs. Hoogterp sent all her bills back marked "Deceased" and survived her premature obituary by over 50 years.[2]

★ Dave Swarbrick in 1999, prompting much embarrassing publicity for the newspaper, and Swarbrick's remark "It's not the first time I have died in Coventry."

★ Dorothy Southworth Ritter, the widow of Tex Ritter and mother of John Ritter, in August 2001. She eventually died in 2003, two months after her son's death.[3]

★ Ballet dancer Katharine Sergava in 2003, which also caused ''The New York Times'' to print an erroneous obituary based on ''The Telegraph's.
On Wednesday, 24 February 1988, ''The Daily Telegraph'' was printed with the wrong date: Thursday 25 February was printed by mistake. This caused complaints from confused readers, but also inspired the first front page cartoon by Matt, who now has a cartoon on the front page of the ''Telegraph'' almost every day. The cartoon had the caption: "I hope I have a better Thursday than I did yesterday".
On Saturday, 26 August 2006, content from Claire Zulkey of MediaBistro Toolbox appeared on Melissa Whitworth's blog (MSN cache, original pulled off the site), leading to accusations of plagiarism. Whitworth later claimed that it had been published in error after she had forwarded the piece to her editor.

See also

★ Bill Deedes, former editor who wrote for the ''Telegraph'' for seventy years, up until the month of his death.

★ Peter Simple, the pseudonym of Michael Wharton, who wrote a humorous column in the paper from 1957 to 2006.

★ Auberon Waugh, a previous columnist

★ Anthony Loyd, one-time war correspondent

★ J. H. B. Peel, columnist

★ Mark Steyn, former columnist

Notes and references

External links

★ telegraph.co.uk

★ Leaping into the future at the Telegraph's Camelot – from The ''Guardian''

★ The ''Guardian'': The plight of Hollinger

★ BBC: Telegraph empire in tycoons' grip – 18 Jan 2004

★ 'Daily Telegraph "will not be the house organ of the Conservatives"' – from BBC News Online

★ The continuing takeover saga – from BBC News 7 March 2004