A newspaper of record is a major national
newspaper with large
circulation whose
editorial and news-gathering functions are considered authoritative and independent; they are thus "newspapers of record by reputation" and include some of the oldest and most widely respected newspapers in the world. The number and trend of "newspapers of record by reputation" is related to the state of
press freedom and
political freedom in a country.[1][2]
It may also be a newspaper authorized to publish
public or legal notices, thus serving as a newspaper of public record. A newspaper whose editorial content is directed by the state can be referred to as an official newspaper of record, but the lack of editorial independence means that it is not a "newspaper of record by reputation". Newspapers of record by reputation that focus on business can also be called newspapers of financial record.[1][2]
Newspapers of public record
A "newspaper of public record", or
government gazette, refers to a publicly available newspaper that is authorized by a government to publish public or legal notices.[3] It is often established by
statute or official action and publication of notices within it, whether by the government or a private party, is considered sufficient to comply with legal requirements for
public notice.[4] Such gazettes may have minimal or no editorial content (opinion articles), and are focused on public notification of state services and state decisions; an example is
Latvia's Latvijas Vēstnesis.[5]
In some jurisdictions, privately owned newspapers may register with the government to publish public and legal notices, or be otherwise eligible to publish such notices (terms used may include "newspaper of general circulation" among others).[6][7][8] Likewise, a private newspaper may be designated by the
courts for publication of legal notices, such as notices of
fictitious business names, if judicial and statutory standards are met.[9][10] These are sometimes called "legally adjudicated newspapers".[11]
Government organs
The term "newspapers of public record" can also denote those owned and operated by a government that directs their entire editorial content. Such newspapers, while pejoratively termed "
state mouthpieces", can also be called "official newspapers of record", independently of whether they publish legal notices - distinguishing them from a gazette whose primary role is to publish notices, as their entire content represents the official view and doctrine of the state. This kind of official newspaper is distinct from newspapers of record by reputation, and is liable to fail the reputation criterion due to its governmental control. The word "official" can be used to distinguish them from "newspapers of record by reputation". Examples include Russia's Rossiyskaya Gazeta,[12] North Korea's Rodong Sinmun,[13] and China's People's Daily.[14]
Newspapers of record by reputation
The second type of "newspaper of record" (also "journal of record", or in French presse de référence) is not defined by formal criteria, and its characteristics vary. The category comprises newspapers that are considered to meet high
standards of journalism, including editorial independence (particularly from the government and from its owners), accountability (mistakes are acknowledged), attention to detail and accuracy, and comprehensiveness and balance of coverage;[15] they are often renowned internationally, and in their own country and/or region by other global outlets.[16][17]
While many countries are proud of their newspapers of record by reputation, in some countries they face an openly hostile state or political system that tries to suppress their press freedoms. Examples include Turkey's Cumhuriyet, where many of the staff have been imprisoned,[19] Panama's La Prensa, where staff has been shot and the owners forced into exile,[20] and Venezuela's El Nacional,[21] which was forced out of print by the state when it seized their assets (see
examples of fallen newspapers of record).[22]
Etymology
The term is believed to have originated among librarians who began referring to The New York Times as the "newspaper of record" when it became the first U.S. newspaper in 1913 to publish an index of the subjects it covered.[18][23] In recognition of that usage, The New York Times held an essay contest in 1927 in which entrants had to demonstrate "The Value of The New York Times Index and Files as a Newspaper of Record". The New York Times, and other newspapers of its type then sought to chronicle events, acting as a record of the day's announcements, schedules, directories, proceedings, transcripts, and appointments. The New York Times by 2004 no longer considered itself a newspaper of record in the original, literal sense.[24]
Over time, historians relied on The New York Times and similar titles as a reliable archival and historical record of significant past events, and a gauge of societal opinions at the time of printing. The term "newspaper of record" evolved from its original literal sense to that newer meaning.[23]
Over time, some established newspapers of record by reputation have lost their status due to financial collapse, take-over or merger by another entity that did not have the same standards or allowed increased government control and suppression of the paper's editorial independence. The existence of newspapers of record by reputation is an aspect of the level of
press freedom and
political freedom in a country, with major first-world democracies having several such newspapers (e.g. United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Canada, Italy and Japan); in contrast, countries that have seen a decline in their newspapers of record by reputation can represent a decline in levels of personal and political freedom (e.g. Zimbabwe, Venezuela, and Cambodia).[1]
Examples include:
Zimbabwe's The Herald, lost its status as an established newspaper of record when it was eventually taken over by
Robert Mugabe's
Zanu-PF party.[162]
Venezuela's newspaper of record, El Nacional,[21] was forced out of print by the state in 2018, and its headquarters was given to a high-ranking official.[22]
London-based
pan-Arab newspaper of record, Al-Hayat, ceased in 2020 due to financial and political pressures.[163][164]
In Cambodia, the
Hun Sen administration forced both of Cambodia's newspapers of record out of business using contrived tax fines that resulted in the closure of The Cambodia Daily in 2017,[165][166] and the sale of The Phnom Penh Post to a close ally of the Hun Sen administration in 2018.[167][168]
Latvian newspaper Diena saw its established status as a newspaper of record diminish after a 2010 takeover, with the Historical Dictionary of Latvia (2017) listing it as "holding tenuously to a popular newspaper-of-record sentiment at home and abroad" due to "questions of ownership and if said owners influence newspaper content".[169]
^
abThe Straits Times and New Straits Times were qualified as "semi-official newspapers of record" in the Encyclopedia of Journalism (2009) as "each is tightly connected to the dominant political party of their respective countries".[116]
^
abcdefghiJohnston, Donald H. (2003). "Chapter: Freedom of the Press in Latin America".
Encyclopedia of International Media and Communications. Vol. 2.
Academic Press. p. 143.
ISBN978-0123876706. Retrieved 9 May 2022. ...the newspaper of record in any country is compulsory reading for political, business, and cultural leaders and the most prestigious such papers in the region, organized into the Grupo de Diarios America, are La Nacion (Buenos Aires, Argentina), O Globo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), El Tiempo (Bogota, Colombia), El Mercurio (Santiago, Chile), El Comercio (Ecuador), Reforma (Mexico), El Nuevo Dia Interactivo (Puerto Rico), El Comercio (Lima, Peru), El Pais (Montevideo, Uruguay), and El Nacional (Caracas, Venezuela)
^Vigón, Mercedes (12 July 2013).
"Journalism ethics is 'personal and non-transferable'" (Interview). Interviewed by
International Press Institute. Retrieved 10 April 2019. In spite of the readership crisis in the United States, The New York Times is a newspaper of record in many countries, as is Le Monde in France or La Nación in Argentina.
^Beezley, William H. (September 2021).
Latin America 2020-2022 (54th ed.).
Rowman & Littlefield. p. 433.
ISBN978-1475856439. The Nassau Guardian, founded in 1844, is the country's newspaper of record and one of the oldest continuously published newspapers in the Western Hemisphere.
^Roy, Anupam Debashis (January 2020).
Not All Springs End Winter. Adarsha. p. 144.
ASINB097ZL8NFW. Reports on the demands of the students that were published on the Daily Star, often considered Bangladesh's newspaper of record, ....
^"O Estado de S. Paulo". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 10 October 2013. It is the...country's newspaper of record. O Estado is sometimes called the "New York Times of Latin America" because of its grave editorial demeanour.
^Fabricio, Roberto (16 April 1992).
"Brazilian Officers Issue Manifesto". Sun-Sentinel. Archived from
the original on 18 February 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2013. The statement, published on Tuesday by O Estado de Sao Paulo, Brazil's newspaper of record, was datelined in Fortaleza, a mid-sized city in northeastern Brazil.
^Buchanan, Carrie (March 2009). Gasher, Mike (ed.).
"Sense of Place in the Daily Newspaper". Aether: The Journal of Media Geography. 4: 62–84 [70]. [T]he Toronto-based Globe and Mail has had the kind of success in Canada that the New York Times had enjoyed in the U.S., as the leading 'newspaper of record' with a national readership.
^Rathbone, John Paul (3 June 2013).
"The history and politics of Colombian media". Financial Times. Retrieved 6 May 2022. Luis Carlos Sarmiento, who has a $14bn fortune, according to Forbes, in 2012 bought El Tiempo, Colombia's largest-circulation daily and the newspaper of record.
^"Terror of the Black Hand (Part 1)". The Irish Times. 9 March 2001. Retrieved 6 May 2022. On January 19th in Bogota, the city section of El Tiempo, Colombia's newspaper of record, ran a report which sent shivers through most urban readers.
^"Le Monde | French newspaper". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 25 March 2018. ... one of the most important and widely respected newspapers in the world.
^"France profile". BBC News. 12 January 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2014. Le Monde - respected national daily, considered to be France's newspaper of record
^"Greece's agony: What have we become?". The Economist. 30 June 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2022. Alexis Papahelas, editor of Kathimerini, Greece's newspaper of record, has coined the term "coalition of the unwilling" to describe the array of ultra-leftist and ultra-traditionalist forces bent on blocking reform.
^Bjarnason, Egill (201). How Iceland Changed the World: The Big History of a Small Island. Penguin. p. 38.
ISBN978-0-14-313588-3. The interview appeared in Morgunblaðið , Iceland's newspaper of record ...
^"Indonesia: Media Landscape". Reporters Without Borders. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2022. They include the daily Kompas, the newspaper of record, with a circulation of more than half a million, and the weekly Tempo, which has built a solid reputation for investigative journalism.
^Dwan, David (April 2009).
"The Irish Times, book review". The London Standard. Archived from
the original on 27 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014. Today, the Irish Times is one of Ireland's most authoritative journals – the newspaper of record for political and intellectual elites from Mayo to Monkstown.
^Levey, Gregory (21 August 2008).
"Pushing right-wing American politics — in Israel". Salon. Retrieved 24 January 2014. In the past few months, Haaretz, Israel's paper of record, has run a series of articles expressing misgivings about outside influence.
^Rosen, Brant (11 May 2010).
"Alan Dershowitz and the Politics of Desperation". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 24 January 2014. Recent polling, alongside articles in both the New York Times and the Israeli paper of record, Ha'aretz, indicate that the American Jewish community no longer feels represented by our so-called representatives - if we ever did.
^Gorenberg, Gershom (September 2002).
"The Thin Green Line". Mother Jones. Retrieved 24 January 2014. In late January, the declaration ran as an ad in Ha'aretz, the national paper of record...
^Beezley, William H. (September 2021).
Latin America 2020-2022 (54th ed.).
Rowman & Littlefield. p. 266.
ISBN978-1475856439. The Daily Gleaner, established in 1834, is one of the oldest continually published newspapers in the hemisphere and is still Jamaica's newspaper of record.
^"Mainichi shimbun | Japanese newspaper". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 25 March 2018. It is usually ranked second to Asahi shimbun as regards national and international prestige, but it appears with its rival on most experts' lists of the world's greatest newspapers.
^Saccani, Rico. Made in Italy - The Story of an American Conductor. First Creative. p. 155.
ASINB004FV5BT0. The Yomiuri had been founded twenty-five years earlier, when the President of the Yomiuri Shinbun, Japan's newspaper of record, wanted to celebrate the paper's anniversary with a symphony concert for its employees.
^Benesch, Susan (21 March 2013).
"The Kenyan Elections: Peace Happened". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 10 October 2013. Kenya's newspaper of record, the Daily Nation, published a banner headline "Never Again" over an editorial with a sharp, eloquent warning
^"U.S. AND P.L.O. SAID TO BE CLOSE TO ACCORD ON A GUERRILLA PULLOUT". The New York Times. 6 August 1982. Retrieved 6 May 2022. An Nahar, the newspaper of record for the entire Arab world, which was printed every day during the 1975-76 civil war, ground to a halt Wednesday on its 50th anniversary after an Israeli phosphorous [sic] shell sailed into the fourth floor of its building.
^Smith, William Edgett (16 August 1982).
"Middle East: Beirut Goes Up in Flames". Time. Retrieved 6 May 2022. Countless buildings in the Hamra area were badly damaged, including the Information Ministry and the headquarters of An Nahar, the newspaper of record for the entire Arab world.
^"L'Orient-Le Jour". Courrier International. Retrieved 11 March 2024. Quotidien francophone libanais né en 1971 d'une fusion entre L'Orient et Le Jour, il est l'un des journaux en langue étrangère les plus lus dans le pays et au sein de la diaspora libanaise, notamment francophone.
^Rashid, Ahmed (4 July 2018).
"The assault on Pakistan media ahead of vote". BBC. Retrieved 3 December 2020. Dawn is the unofficial newspaper of record - indispensable for businessmen, diplomats and military officers alike - and known for its influential editorials that affect Pakistan's image worldwide.
^"Philippine Daily Inquirer". Library of Congress. Retrieved 7 May 2022. The Philippine Daily Inquirer, popularly known as the Inquirer, is an English-language newspaper in the Philippines. Founded in 1985, it is often regarded as the Philippines' newspaper of record.
^Wheeler, Douglas L.; Opello, Walter C. Jr. (2010). Historical Dictionary of Portugal (3rd ed.).
The Scarecrow Press. p. 189.
ISBN978-0810860889. The major Lisbon newspapers are Didrio de Noticias (daily and newspaper of record) ....
^Eaman, Ross (2009). The A to Z of Journalism.
The Scarecrow Press. p. 237.
ISBN978-0810871540. The most prestigious newspaper for print journalists is the Diario de noticias, Portugal's "newspaper of record", followed by the more popular Jornal de noticias and the staunchly independent Publico.
^
abSchiller-Merkens, Simone; Balsiger, Philip (October 2019).
The Contested Moralities of Markets.
Emerald Group Publishing.
ISBN978-1787691209. In addition, we consulted all 302 newspaper articles in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (the newspaper of record in the German-speaking part of Switzerland), and Le Temps (the newspaper of record in the German-speaking part of Switzerland), that covered...
^Ruiz, Todd (16 March 2022).
"Bangkok Post trashed for broadcasting Russian ambassador's 'propaganda'". Coconuts Bangkok. Coconuts Media. Retrieved 19 February 2024. The newspaper of record's decision to uncritically broadcast a closed session with Russia's ambassador to Thailand yesterday has been met with anger and disbelief.
^Breiner, Laurence (November 2006).
"Laureate of nowhere". Caribbean Review of Books. 10. Retrieved 10 May 2022. ..that although the Guardian is the nation's [Trinidad and Tobago] newspaper of record...