The Cambridge News (formerly the Cambridge Evening News) is a British daily newspaper. Published each weekday and on Saturdays, it is distributed from its Milton base. In the period December 2010 – June 2011 it had an average daily circulation of 20,987,[2] but by December 2016 this had fallen to around 13,000.[3] In 2018, the circulation of the newspaper fell to 8,005[4] and by December 2023 the preceding 6-month average was 2,218.[5]
The paper was founded by William Farrow Taylor as the Cambridge Daily News in 1888,[citation needed] and after a slow start saw sales rise as an appetite for knowledge of the news and sport grew among the Cambridge public.[citation needed] As its following steadily grew, the fledgling paper survived the need for modernisation in the early twentieth century[citation needed] (Captain Archibald Taylor, son of the founder, was the first managing director to introduce a standard typeface during this time, for example[citation needed]), the uncertain economic climate during the 1920s and 1930s and the printing shortages of the Second World War.[citation needed]
In the 1920s the Taylors sold the paper to the Iliffe family,[citation needed] who sold it in 1938 and then reacquired it in 1959,[citation needed] moving it to a larger premises on Newmarket Road:[citation needed] they continued to turn the paper into a profit-making business under the new name of the Cambridge Evening News, starting in 1969.[citation needed] The headquarters moved from Newmarket Road to Milton in 1997.[citation needed] In 2012, Local World acquired the title from Yattendon Group.[6]
In 2007, the paper started publishing an early morning "Sunrise" edition titled simply Cambridge News, as well as the afternoon edition.[citation needed] The evening edition was stopped the following year, and Evening was removed from the paper's title.[citation needed]
Until 2002 the St Neots edition was titled St Neots Evening News and the Huntingdon & St Ives edition Huntingdon and St Ives Evening News for around three years, before reverting to their original names.[citation needed] The paper is also active in local community campaigns such as its long running 'Action on the A14' campaign which demands action be taken on the dangerous road[citation needed] that bisects the paper's readership area, and also sponsors numerous local events such as the Village & Community Magazine Awards and the annual Business Excellence Awards, while running its own Community Awards to recognise readers who have made a difference in the area.[citation needed] The editor from February 2008 until April 2016 was Paul Brackley.[7] David Bartlett was appointed editor in June 2016.[8]
On Saturday 13 September 2014, the newspaper was relaunched with a new design, alongside daily paid-for regional editions Hunts News, Royston News and Walden News replacing the free weekly publications.[9]
The 6 December 2017 edition of Cambridge News was noted for a printing error on the front page. The newspaper went to print with a main headline consisting of placeholder text which read "100PT SPLASH HEADING HERE" instead of the intended news story, followed by more filler text contained in a strapline. After images of the cover spread virally on social media, the editor-in-chief apologised to readers and blamed a technical error in the publishing process.[10][11]
Awards
The paper won Regional Newspaper of the Year at The Newspaper Awards held in 2009 and 2013. This award was part sponsored by its own parent organisation.[12]
Online media
Cambridge News publishes most of its news online via its website. The site can be viewed for free and without registration although the e-edition of the newspaper is behind a paywall.[13]
