History
The Manitoba Free Press was launched November 30, 1872, by William Fisher Luxton and John A. Kenny. Luxton bought a press in New York and they rented a shack at 555 Main Street, near the present corner of Main Street at James Avenue.
In 1874 the Free Press moved to a new building on Main Street, across from St. Mary Avenue.
In 1882 it moved to a building on McDermot Avenue.
About 1892, control of the Free Press passed to Clifford Sifton.
The organization remained at the McDermot Avenue location until 1900, when it moved to a new address on McDermot, at Albert Street.
From 1901 to 1944, John Wesley Dafoe served as editorial writer, editor-in-chief and president.
In 1905 the newspaper moved to a four-storey building at Portage and Garry.
In 1913 the paper moved to 300 Carlton Street, and remained there for 78 years.
In 1931 the name of the Manitoba Free Press became the Winnipeg Free Press.
In 1991 the Free Press moved to its current location in the Inkster Industrial Park, a $150–million plant at 1355 Mountain Avenue.
In December, 2001, the newspaper, along with sister paper Brandon Sun, was bought from Thomson Newspapers by FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership.
As of November 1, 2009, the paper ceased publishing a regular Sunday edition. In its place, a Sunday-only tabloid called On 7 was launched. It is available for purchase only from vending boxes and retailers. On March 27, 2011, the Sunday newspaper was retooled as a broadsheet format called Winnipeg Free Press SundayXtra, due to the impending arrival of Metro in the Winnipeg market.
According to Canadian Newspaper Association figures, the newspaper's average weekday circulation for the 6 month period preceding March 31, 2006 was 119,082. This figure was 161,925 on Saturdays, and 114,966 on Sundays.
At noon on Monday, October 13 (Thanksgiving Day) of 2008, about 1,000 members of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, which represents editorial, advertising, circulation and press staff, as well as newspaper carriers, launched a strike action. The strike ended 16 days later, when the union ratified the final offer on Tuesday, October 28. The contract was ratified by 67 per cent of newspaper carriers, 75 per cent of the pressmen and 91 per cent of the inside workers, including journalists.
Read more about this topic: Winnipeg Free Press
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