| Type | Weekly newspapers |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner(s) | Newsquest |
| Founded | 1829 |
| Headquarters | Falmouth, Cornwall |
| Circulation | 2,824 (as of 2023)[1] |
| Website | thepacket |
Packet Newspapers (Cornwall) Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Newsquest media group, which publishes the Packet series of weekly tabloid newspapers.[2][3]
The series is named after the Falmouth Packet service, which commenced operation in about 1688.[4][5]
Weekly circulation for all Packet titles was 39,350 as of 27 February 2013,[6] 32% greater than that of their regional rival, Northcliffe Media's The West Briton, which had a circulation of 29,710 on the same date.[6]
The Falmouth & Penryn Packet is a weekly tabloid newspaper sold in and around the towns of Falmouth and Penryn on the southern coast of western Cornwall.[7]
Several newspapers have borne the title Falmouth Packet in the past. The earliest, founded in 1801, was the Cornwall Gazette & Falmouth Packet, which lasted under that title for less than two years when the proprietor, one Thomas Flindell (1767-1824), was imprisoned for debt. It was the first Cornish newspaper.[8]
In 1803 Flindell moved his operations to Truro and started the Royal Cornwall Gazette and Western Advertiser, which ultimately was absorbed into The West Briton following a bitter feud between the two publications.[8]
The second Falmouth Packet was the Falmouth Packet & Cornish Herald, founded in 1829 and published until 1848. The third, Lake's Falmouth Packet & Cornwall Advertiser, is the ancestor of the present-day Falmouth & Penryn Packet; it started publication in 1858.[7]
The current Falmouth & Penryn Packet is the lead title in a series of Packet weekly paid-for tabloids for central and western Cornwall.[7]
The Helston Packet is a weekly tabloid newspaper sold in and around the town of Helston in southern Cornwall, including Porthleven, Mullion and The Lizard peninsula. It was first published in 1969.[9]
All Packet titles are published by Packet Newspapers from editorial offices in Falmouth.[7]
All the Packet titles, plus the closely associated Helston & District Gazette, share a common website - www.thepacket.co.uk.[7]
Packet Newspapers used to be part of the Express Newspapers group (and, before that, its predecessor Beaverbrook Newspapers), but as of 1987 is a subsidiary of the Newsquest newspaper group's South West division.
There are currently (February 2013) four Packets - The Falmouth/Penryn Packet, The Helston Packet, The West Cornwall Packet, and The Packet (covering Truro, Camborne and Redruth); in 2010 the Penwith Pirate was replaced by the West Cornwall Packet. They all come out on Wednesdays.[10][11][12]