{{Short description|English daily newspaper}} {{more citations needed|date=August 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox newspaper | name = [[Image:OldhamChronicle.png|200px]] | image = | caption = | type = Daily [[newspaper]] | founded = 1854 | ceased_publication = 31 August 2017; relaunched online in February 2018 | owners = Hirst Kidd and Rennie | headquarters = [[Oldham]]<br>[[Greater Manchester]]<br>England | editor = David Whaley | website = [http://www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk] }} The '''''Oldham Evening Chronicle''''' was a daily newspaper published each weekday evening. It served the [[Metropolitan Borough of Oldham]], in [[Greater Manchester]], England. There were also four sister editions, called the ''Oldham Extra'', ''Saddleworth Extra'', ''Tameside Extra'' and ''Dale Times'', which were published on the first Thursday of each month. The paper was owned by Hirst, Kidd and Rennie Ltd.

In February 2018, the main Evening Chronicle title relaunched online after it was bought by a local radio station.

==History==

On 6 May 1854, the first edition of the '''''Oldham Chronicle''''' (as it was originally known) was published by a bookseller and printer Daniel Evans in an effort to provide the then thriving cotton manufacturing town of [[Oldham]] with its own locally produced newspaper. Oldham was enjoying rapid economic expansion thanks to the [[Industrial Revolution]], but local communities had to rely on [[Manchester]] papers for news about the town and surrounding districts. The ''Oldham Chronicle'' was published in an attempt to fill this gap. Five months later, he sold it to Robert Lewis Gerrie.

Gerrie died from [[tuberculosis|consumption]] 18 months after his purchase. Jonathan Hirst and Wallace Rennie bought the paper in 1857 for £800, and members of the Hirst family continued to work for the newspaper until its demise. The last chairman was Philip Hirst, a great-great-grandson of Jonathan Hirst.

The paper went from strength to strength. The increase in popularity led to a decision in 1880 to produce a daily edition (Monday to Saturday). The weekly edition and the ''Oldham Evening Chronicle'' were published together until 1982, when the paid-for ''Oldham Chronicle'' became the free ''Chronicle Weekend''. In 2010, ''Chronicle Weekend'' was separated into two free monthly editions, the ''Oldham Extra'' and the ''Saddleworth Extra''. In 2012 the ''Oldham Evening Chronicle'' produced the first Eid festival supplement which was aimed at the significant BME{{clarify|date=August 2017}} community in Oldham.{{citation needed|date=August 2017}} According to Paul Bagguley and Yasmin Hussain, the newspaper's editorial stance had been "widely seen as anti-Asian" around the time of [[2001 Oldham riots|riots in 2001]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Riotous Citizens: Ethnic Conflict in Multicultural Britain |first1=Paul |last1=Bagguley |first2=Yasmin |last2=Hussain |publisher=Routledge |year=2016 |orig-year=2008 |isbn=978-1-31706-292-9 |chapter=The Riots of 2001: an Overview and Comparison of Oldham, Burnley and Bradford |page=48 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=adTsCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA48}}</ref>

==Closure and purchase== On 31 August 2017, it was announced that the newspaper had gone into administration after 163 years in print, resulting in the loss of 49 jobs. The final edition was published on that day.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-41113497 |title=Oldham Evening Chronicle shuts after publisher enters administration |work=BBC News |date=31 August 2017 |access-date=2017-08-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Jennifer |last=Williams |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/oldham-evening-chronicle-ceases-publication-13556176 |title=Oldham Evening Chronicle ceases publication - with 49 jobs lost |work=Manchester Evening News |date=31 August 2017 |access-date=2017-08-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Mayhew |first=Freddy |url=http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/oldham-evening-chronicle-goes-into-administration-with-majority-of-49-staff-made-redundant/ |title=Oldham Evening Chronicle folds after 163 years as 'majority' of its 49 staff made redundant |work=Press Gazette |date=31 August 2017 |access-date=2017-08-31}}</ref>

In October 2017 it was announced that local radio station Revolution 96.2 had bought the title and assets of the newspaper with the intention of relaunching it. According to a spokesman, doing so would be a complex matter, in part because the paper had stored so much of its information in the [[Cloud storage|cloud]] and retrieving it might be difficult.<ref>{{cite news |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-41611107 |title=Oldham Evening Chronicle is to be relaunched after finding a new buyer |date=13 October 2017 |access-date=2017-10-14}}</ref> The title relaunched as an online-only publication in February 2018.<ref>{{cite news |work=BBC |title=Oldham Evening Chronicle relaunches online after buyout |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-43060662 |date=14 February 2018 |access-date=2018-02-14}}</ref>

==Former journalists== *[[Geoffrey Lancashire]] (1933-2004), television scriptwriter, notably on ''[[Coronation Street]]''. Father of actress [[Sarah Lancashire]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Purser |first=Philip |date=2004-11-08 |title=Geoffrey Lancashire |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/nov/08/guardianobituaries.broadcasting1 |access-date=2024-07-25 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> *[[John Stapleton (English journalist)|John Stapleton]] (1946-2025), journalist and broadcaster, known for ''[[GMTV]]'' and ''[[Watchdog (TV programme)|Watchdog]]''.<ref>{{cite news |work=BBC News |title=Renowned TV presenter John Stapleton dies aged 79 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9300xw27vgo |date=21 September 2025 |access-date=25 September 2025}}</ref>

==See also== *''[[Oldham Advertiser]]'' *[[List of newspapers in the United Kingdom]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Portal bar |United Kingdom |Lancashire |Greater Manchester}} {{Authority control}}

[[Category:1854 establishments in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:2017 disestablishments in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Newspapers published in Greater Manchester]] [[Category:Mass media in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham]] [[Category:Newspapers established in 1854]] [[Category:Evening newspapers]] [[Category:Daily newspapers published in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Defunct newspapers published in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Newspapers disestablished in 2017]] [[Category:Defunct daily newspapers]]