Shropshire Star
 | |
| Type | Daily regional newspaper |
|---|---|
| Owner(s) | Midland News Association |
| Editor | Martin Wright |
| Founded | 5 October 1964 |
| Headquarters |
Waterloo Road, Ketley, Telford, Shropshire |
| Circulation | 38,636 (December 2013)[1] |
| Sister newspapers | Express & Star |
| Website | shropshirestar.com |
The Shropshire Star is the fifth biggest-selling regional evening newspaper in Britain. It is based in Ketley, Telford, and covers the whole of Shropshire plus parts of Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Cheshire and Mid Wales.
Currently edited by Martin Wright,[2] the Shropshire Star publishes three editions a day Monday to Friday and one edition on a Saturday. In the first half of 2012, the newspaper had a daily circulation of 49,751, but this fell to 46,498 in the second half of 2012 [3] and to below 39,000 by the end of 2013.[4]
It is printed at its editorial headquarters in Ketley.
The Shropshire Star is one of the few independent daily newspapers still operating in the UK, having been under the continuous ownership of the Graham family almost since its inception. It is owned by the Midland News Association (MNA), which also owns the Express & Star newspaper.
History
The Shropshire Star has been in circulation since Monday 5 October 1964, inheriting a nightly circulation of around 19,000 from the old Shropshire edition of the Express & Star.
The Midland News Association board saw an opportunity with the growth of Dawley New Town - later renamed Telford - and produced a successful news and advertising product to serve a county which is a mixture of agriculture and industrial areas.
The Shropshire Star later became the first evening newspaper in Europe to use web-fed offset printing, which refers to the use of rolls (or webs) of paper supplied to the printing press.
Online media
The Shropshire Star publishes breaking news and sport content online each day, in addition to regular blogs and unique video content. Its website shropshirestar.com[5] was launched in 1997.
According to an ABC report, the Shropshire Star website had, at one time, the second highest rise in average monthly unique users across the whole of the regional press - up 41.8 per cent to 469,827.
August 2012 saw the website re-launched in a responsive web design alongside its sister title expressandstar.com[6] – believed to be the first of any other regional newspaper websites in the UK.[7]
A Shropshire Star App for iPad and iPhone was launched in January 2012, using page-turning technology to mimic the look and feel of the actual newspaper.
The website also offers free access to the weekly Chronicle and Journal series.
Editors
This list is incomplete
- Martin Wright (2013 - )
- Keith Harrison (2011 – 2013)
- Sarah-Jane Smith (2001 – 2011)
- Adrian Faber (1998 – 2001)
- Andy Wright (1994 – 1998)
- Warren Wilson (1992 – 1994)
- Robert Jones (1977 - 1991)
- Keith Parker (1972 – 1977)
Notable Journalists
- Jeremy Clarkson - first wrote motoring articles for this paper. He recalled: "I started small, on the Shropshire Star with little Peugeots and Fiats and worked my way up to Ford Granadas and Rovers, until, after about seven years, I was allowed to drive an Aston Martin Lagonda."[8]
Editions
- County North
- County South
- Shrewsbury
- Last (Telford)
See also
References
- ↑ "Audit Bureau of Circulation: Summary Report – Shropshire Star" (PDF). Abc.org.uk. Retrieved 2014-06-10.
- ↑ "New editor appointed for Shropshire Star". Shropshire Star.
- ↑ "Regional ABCs: Paid-for local press circulation drops by 6.4 per cent". Press Gazette.
- ↑ http://www.abc.org.uk/Certificates/18934454.pdf
- ↑ "Shropshire News - Midlands News - Breaking News UK « Shropshire Star".
- ↑ "Midlands News – West Midlands Local News - UK News « Express & Star".
- ↑ "Why the Express and Star went 'mobile-first' and responsive". Journalism.co.uk.
- ↑ "Sacked Clarkson tells how his road to motoring fame started in Shropshire". Shropshire Star. 27 March 2015. p. 4.Report by David Banner. This recalls information given by him in his last column for Top Gear magazine prior to his dismissal by the BBC.