Southport Visiter Explained

Southport Visiter
Type:Weekly newspaper
Owners:Reach plc
Foundation:1844
Circulation:912
Circulation Date:2023
Circulation Ref:[1]

The Southport Visiter is a weekly paid-for print newspaper covering Southport, Merseyside, England. It was founded in 1844 as a single sheet listing visitors to the seaside town.[2] It is now owned by Reach Regionals, formerly Trinity Mirror,[3] and in 2018 it was announced that its website would merge with that of the Liverpool Echo, with the distinct printed product continuing.[4] [5]

The paper was published from premises in Lord Street in Southport until 1889 when it moved to Tulketh Street. After printing ceased in Southport the building was larger than needed, and for part of 2010 the ground floor was occupied by Southport Library. In 2014 it was announced that staff would move to a new "digital hub" on Lord Street, the street where the newspaper had begun.[6] In July 2018 it was reported that the empty premises in Tulketh Street had been vandalised, and that staff were not working at the Lord Street premises but were based in Liverpool.[7]

Former editors of the Southport Visiter included Alan Pinch and John Dempsey.[8]

On April Fools' Day 2016 the paper published a hoax announcement that it would be changing the spelling of its name to Visitor, and a later retraction.[9]

In 1996 the Press Complaints Commission rejected a case against the paper, brought by a man who believed it had published "intrusive amounts of detail regarding the conviction of a man for assaulting the complainant's sister-in-law".[10]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Southport Visiter . . 19 February 2024 . 2 March 2024.
  2. Web site: Southport Visiter Series . Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership . 26 September 2018.
  3. Web site: Southport Visiter . . 26 September 2018.
  4. News: Chapman . Stephen . Southport Visiter website to merge with Liverpool Echo . 26 September 2018 . Prolific North . 15 February 2018.
  5. News: Southport . 26 September 2018 . Echo . Southport news is brought to you by the Visiter team..
  6. News: Sharman . David . Weekly moves back to street where it all began . 19 January 2019 . Hold the Front Page . 21 November 2014.
  7. News: Abandoned Southport Visiter offices targeted by vandals . 19 January 2019 . OTS News . 19 July 2018.
  8. News: Sharman . David . Editor who spent more than half a century in journalism dies aged 89 . 26 September 2018 . Hold the Front Page . 23 July 2018.
  9. News: Fitzsimmons . Francesca . Southport Visiter will NOT become the Visitor - Happy April Fools Day! . Southport Visiter. 1 April 2016. 19 January 2019.
  10. Web site: Complainant name: A man; Publication: Southport Visiter . Adjudicated complaints . . 19 January 2019.