Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

Shropshire Star

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Editor
  
Martin Wright

Circulation
  
38,636 (December 2013)

Founded
  
5 October 1964

Shropshire Star

Type
  
Daily regional newspaper

Owner(s)
  
Midland News Association

Headquarters
  
Waterloo Road, Ketley, Telford, Shropshire

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.

Contents

Currently edited by Martin Wright, 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 and to below 27,000 by the end of 2016.

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 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 – believed to be the first of any other regional newspaper websites in the UK.

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."
  • Editions

  • County North
  • County South
  • Shrewsbury
  • Last (Telford)
  • References

    Shropshire Star Wikipedia