The Winnipeg Tribunewas a metropolitan dailynewspaperservingWinnipeg,Manitoba,Canada from January 28, 1890, to August 27, 1980. The paper was founded byR.L. Richardsonand D.L. McIntyre who acquired the press and premises of the oldWinnipeg Sunnewspaper. It was often viewed as a liberal newspaper focused on local news and events. The paper was owned bySoutham Incat the time of its demise. It was frequently referred to asThe Trib.
 | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | Southam Newspapers |
| Founded | January 28, 1890 |
| Language | English |
| Ceased publication | August 27, 1980 |
| Headquarters | Winnipeg,Manitoba |
| Circulation | 100,000 |
| Free online archives | UM Libraries |
History
edit1890–1975
editThe Winnipeg Tribune began publishing on January 28, 1890, as a city newspaper,[1]after the oldWinnipeg Sunclosed down. The initial edition contained four pages of local, national and international news. It was then in competition with two other newspapers: theManitoba Free Pressand theWinnipeg Telegram.
In 1914, theTribunemoved its editorial offices from the Exchange area to the Central Business District area of downtown on Smith Street. It remained there until it closed in August 1980.[2][3]
During theWinnipeg General Strikein 1919, the newspaper sided with theCitizens' Committee of 1000and declared, "Winnipeg is now under the Soviet system of government."
It was bought bySoutham Newspapersin 1920.
In 1922, theWinnipeg Tribunelaunched a radio station, CJNC-AM, that broadcast on the frequency 410 kHz and closed down a year later, on March 9, 1923.[4][5]Said the station manager at the closing:
We have some important news for you. Some of you may not consider it good news. The Tribune will give its last radio concert next Friday night. It will then dismantle its radio equipment and retire permanently from the broadcasting field.[5]
In 1942, the newspaper published a famous army publicity photo ofMary Greyeyes,the first Indigenous woman to enlist in theCanadian Women's Army Corps.The photo was soon picked up by British newspapers overseas.[6]
On Friday, September 5, 1969, theTribunereplaced its small user-folded TV listings printed on yellow paper with a glossy-covered 32-page booklet,TV Times,[7]which was also featured in theOttawa Citizenand theMontreal Gazette.
On Sunday, June 21, 1970, a newCentrextelephone system was installed for advertisers and subscribers to use when they called. This allowed direct dialing without requiring the person to contact the switchboard operator first.[8]
1975–1980
editBy the mid-1970s, daily circulation began to slip to 70,000 and was falling. The Southam chain decided on a total redesign of the paper. The new design made its debut on September 6, 1975. Although the offset press could print a 112-page newspaper, the September 6 edition was 124 pages, including the 48-pageTrib Classifieds.That forced the press operators to print theTrib Lifestylesection separately.[9]Within a few months, circulation gained 30,000 paid readers, which made the upgrade a success.
A few days before the design change, on September 1, all private sale listings were made in the classified ads free in the form of aWant-Ad Free-for-Allpromotion. That was because of fierce competition with theWinnipeg Free Press.
In March 1979, it bought some space atop the Casa Loma building (Portage Avenue& Sherbrook Street) to hold Winnipeg's largest billboard. It read, "[logo] With the Trib, it's Winnipeg. First." The billboard was designed by the advertising firm Martel-Stewart Ltd., and was larger than any that had been billboard seen in Winnipeg; it was also the largest inWestern Canada.It measured 23 feet tall by 60 feet wide and had 4,200 light bulbs. The billboard space had been used by Export A cigarettes as early as 1959.[10]
When Southam's weekend magazineThe Canadianmerged with FP Newspapers'Weekend,theTribunedecided to differentiate itself from theFree Pressby creating a locally-written tabloid,Trib Magazine,which started on November 24, 1979.[11]
In the late 1970s, theTribunestarted publishing theweekend color comicsin booklet form as "collectible comics." It was one of the first newspapers (and one of the very few in Canada) to use that short-lived format. The first issue, Vol.1 No.1, was published September 24, 1977. The final issue, Vol.4 No. 34, was published August 23, 1978, when the strips returned to the main edition.
The trademark name is now owned by the paper's old rival, theWinnipeg Free Press.
Closure
editOn August 27, 1980, without warning, theTribunewas abruptly closed, and 375 people were out of work. Gene Telpner joked that he had just gotten new drapes and furniture.Val Werier,who was with the Trib for 35 years, said that it was a shocking moment. However, people in the pressroom knew that something was coming because management had stopped the presses that morning. The presses had only stopped on a rare occasion, and when they stopped, it was only for major events.
Shockwaves moved through the community also, and many Winnipeggers were angry about losing a competing public voice.
Worse yet, the closure happened at the same time as the closing of theOttawa Journal.In 1980, theOttawa Journalhad been purchased by Thomson Newspapers and was closed. That left Southam'sOttawa Citizenas the only major newspaper in Ottawa and the Thompsons'Winnipeg Free Pressthe only major newspaper in Winnipeg.
TheRoyal Commission on Newspapers,popularly known as the Kent Commission, was created in 1980 in response to allegations of collusion following the same-day closings of the Thomson-ownedOttawa Journaland the Southam-ownedWinnipeg Tribune.
The last issue, with the headline "It's Been 90 Great Years", remains a collector's item to this day.
Afterward
editA number of employees from theTribunelater helped form theWinnipeg Sun.
TheUniversity of Manitobaarchives and special collections holds a collection of over 500,000 photographs, 250,000 newspaper clippings arranged into morgue files, and microfilm copies of the newspaper.
In 1994, the Lion's Club announced its intention to build an 18-storey apartment tower on the oldWinnipeg Tribunesite. To be called Tribune Towers, it would be for seniors 55 and older and contain 132 suites. There would have been skywalk connections to theMillennium Library.[12][13]The project was never completed.
In April 2013, an Ontario-based real estate investment firm,Fortress Real Development,announced a 45-storey 'SkyCity' condominium project at the old site.[14]However, in 2018 or 2019, the project was cancelled for financial issues relating to the investment and development company.[15]
The University of Manitoba Library digitized all the paper's pages between 1890 and 1980 and has made it freely available online.[16]
Notable staff
edit- Vince Leah(1930 to 1980), journalist, writer, sports administrator and member of the Order of Canada[17]
Further reading
edit- Gourluck, Russ (2008)."Picturing Manitoba: Legacies of The Winnipeg Tribune".Great Plains Publications.ISBN978-1894283762
Documentary
editA documentary, 'The Trib: The Story of an Underdog Newspaper', was released in 2012.[18]
References
edit- ^"Good Afternoon!".The Winnipeg Daily Tribune.January 28, 1890. p. 2.
- ^"The Winnipeg Tribune's new home on Smith and Graham Sts".The Winnipeg Tribune.March 1, 1913. p. 1.
- ^"The Winnipeg Tribune's new building".The Winnipeg Tribune.January 24, 1914. pp. 26–29.
- ^"CJNC-AM".Canadian Communications Foundation.RetrievedSeptember 1,2019.
- ^ab"Govt. Telephones To Assume Control All Manitoba Radio".The Winnipeg Evening Tribune.March 8, 1923. p. 1.
- ^Aboriginal peoples and the Canadian military: historical perspectives.Lackenbauer, P. Whitney., Mantle, Craig Leslie, 1977-, Canadian Forces Leadership Institute., Canadian Defence Academy. Winnipeg: Canadian Defence Academy Press. 2007.ISBN9780662458760.OCLC181078599.
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: others (link) - ^"Trib to Offer TV magazine". Winnipeg Tribune. August 29, 1969.
- ^"Trib's new phone system". Winnipeg Tribune. June 19, 1970. p. 1.
- ^Haslam, Gerry (September 6, 1975). "Oh, Oh, Oh you Trib!". Winnipeg Tribune. p. 1.
- ^"The Trib's new sign a blockbuster". Winnipeg Tribune. March 16, 1979. p. 13.
- ^"Another FIRST". Winnipeg Tribune. November 23, 1979. p. 34.
- ^Flood, Gerald (May 8, 1994). "Seniors directing growth: Growing population fuels downtown development". Winnipeg Free Press. p. A8.
- ^Kuxhaus, David (June 7, 1994). "Towers to soar at old Trib location". Winnipeg Free Press.
- ^"New highrise to go up in downtown Winnipeg".CBC News Manitoba.April 30, 2013.RetrievedSeptember 1,2019.
- ^Levasseur, Joanne (April 18, 2018)."Future of Winnipeg's SkyCity condos questioned after RCMP raid".CBC News Manitoba.RetrievedSeptember 1,2018.
- ^Prest, Ashley (September 11, 2018). "Defunct Winnipeg Tribune enters digital age: Ninety years of archives from newspaper to be accessible for free".Winnipeg Free Press.
- ^"Vince 'Uncle' Leah".Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum.1981.RetrievedFebruary 1,2022.
- ^Kelly, Paula (January 1, 2012)."The Trib: The Story of an Underdog Newspaper".Winnipeg Film Group.
External links
edit- University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections, Winnipeg Tribune fonds- contains newspaper clippings as well as a photo collection the newspaper used for stories.
- University of Manitoba Digital Collections- Freely accessible, full-page complete (1890–1980) newspaper archive of the Trib.