The Calgary Sun is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is currently owned by Postmedia Network. First published in 1980, the tabloid-format daily newspaper replaced the long-running tabloid-size The Albertan soon after it was acquired by the publishers of the Toronto Sun. The newspaper, like most of those in the Canadian Sun chain, is known for short, snappy news stories aimed primarily at working-class readers. The layout of the Calgary Sun is partially based on that of United Kingdom tabloids.
History
The newspaper that would become the
Calgary Sun was first published in 1886 as the
Calgary Tribune. Prior to its 1980 acquisition by
Sun Media, the newspaper was published under the following titles:
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1886-1895: Calgary Tribune
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1895-1899: Alberta Tribune
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1899: Albertan
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1899-1902: Albertan and Alberta Tribune
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1902-1920: Morning Albertan and Weekly Albertan
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1920-1924: Morning Albertan and Western Farmer and Weekly Albertan
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1924-1927: Calgary Albertan and Western Farmer and Weekly Albertan
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1927-1936: Calgary Albertan
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1936-1980: Albertan
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1980: Calgary Albertan
Sunshine Girl
A signature feature of
Sun-branded newspapers including the
Calgary Sun is the "Sunshine Girl," a daily glamour photograph of a female model. The feature uses locally photographed models (both amateur and professional) as well as photographs shot for the national chain. Originally situated on page 3 (similar to the British tabloids the
Sun chain originally set out to emulate, which also featured glamour photos on their third page), in the 1990s the feature was relocated to the Sports section. A "Sunshine Boy" feature appeared sporadically in the 1980s and 1990s.
Local weeklies
For many years, the
Calgary Sun also published a local weekly,
The Calgary Mirror, which covered community news. Sun Media purchased the newspaper in the early 1990s. This publication, which originated in the 1950s and was known at one time as
North Hill News, was discontinued in 2001. It was succeeded by
FYI Calgary In-Print, a free weekly newspaper intended to be the print equivalent of the
Sun's much-publicized FYI Calgary news website (there was also an
FYI Toronto newspaper published to tie in with the
Toronto Sun website). The new publication was rejected by readers and advertisers and was discontinued in May 2001 during a downsizing of Sun Media. The website abandoned the FYI concept about a year later and rebranded itself as calgarysun.com.
Format
On October 2, 2006, the
Calgary Sun underwent a major redesign, adopting the logo already being used by other
Sun newspapers and revamping the
typeface for its body text and headlines. In February 2007, Sun Media launched a Calgary edition of its free daily,
24 Hours, which shares editors and editorial staff with the
Calgary Sun. Sun Media ceased publishing the Calgary edition of
24 Hours in 2013.
Distribution
The
Calgary Herald was produced on a daily basis until 2012, when it ceased printing a Sunday edition. Distribution is by
subscription, direct sale (such as at
), or
vending machine. The latter was the target of public debate by the City Council in early 2008, when at least one
alderman claimed that newspaper boxes were responsible for increased levels of litter on public transit.
Circulation
The
Calgary Sun, like most Canadian daily newspapers, has seen a decline in circulation. Its total circulation dropped by percent to 43,277 copies daily from 2009 to 2015.
- :::::::: Daily average
[ Figures refer to the total circulation (print and digital combined) which includes paid and unpaid copies.]
Notable staff
See also
External links
