72-539: The Sunderland Echo is a daily newspaper serving the Sunderland , South Tyneside and East Durham areas of North East England . The newspaper was founded by Samuel Storey , Edward Backhouse , Edward Temperley Gourley , Charles Palmer , Richard Ruddock , Thomas Glaholm and Thomas Scott Turnbull in 1873, as the Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette . Designed to provide a platform for
144-405: A Down Your Way local news supplement on Tuesdays, jobs, junior football and nostalgia features on Wednesdays, an entertainment supplement, cars guide and nostalgia stories on Thursdays and a property pull-out on Fridays. The Saturday edition includes a leisure pull-out, featuring fashion, entertainment and restaurant reviews, while a local history nostalgia supplement, Retro , is published once
216-426: A metropolitan authority, Sunderland retained responsibility for waste collection, although disposal of the waste was a county function, and for education. In 1986, when Tyne and Wear Metropolitan County Council was abolished, most county functions became the responsibility of the constituent districts, whilst new joint boards assumed the co-ordinating roles in the county. Thus control over economic development, of
288-419: A day, seven days a week, with stories including football match reports and football transfer rumours among the most popular. Slideshows, videos and podcasts are also included on the site in addition to the news of the day. The Echo has won numerous accolades, as well as government praise, for its campaigning journalism, specialist writing, community work, photographic images and appeals for good causes over
360-507: A digital editing suite was created within the office at the same time. The audio-visual equipment allows reporters to both write about and film stories as they happen, and the articles can be published on-line within seconds. Statistics show that almost 80,000 people visited the Echo' s website in January 2007, and this figure rose to 216,000 by January 2008. The website is updated 24 hours
432-586: A far larger area, including nearby towns including Washington , Hetton-le-Hole and Houghton-le-Spring , as well as the surrounding villages and hamlets. The district also forms a large majority of Wearside which includes Chester-le-Street in County Durham . The district was formed in 1974 as part of the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972 and is an amalgamation of four former local government districts of County Durham . It
504-546: A heart attack whilst on stage in 1976. Sunderland is home to a Nissan car manufacturing plant . Over recent years Sunderland city centre has seen a re-development of the Sunniside area taking place, with new bars, cafes and retailers opening their doors on the Eastern side of the city. The Sunniside area now includes an Empire Cinema, Gala Casino and many surrounding eateries. The Bridges Shopping Centre covers much of
576-417: A hospital radio station – Radio Sunderland for Hospitals , and can receive other north-eastern independent radio stations Hits Radio North East , Greatest Hits North East , Capital North East , Heart North East , Nation Radio North East and Smooth North East . The current regional BBC radio station is BBC Radio Newcastle . The city is covered by BBC North East and Cumbria and ITV Tyne Tees , which has
648-574: A major refurbishment of the Bridge Street base in the mid-1960s, the next milestones for the paper came in 1973. The first was Sunderland A.F.C. 's 1–0 win over Leeds United in the FA Cup final . Ian Porterfield 's winning goal was headline news at the time, giving the Echo its all-time record circulation figure of 95,000 copies of the Sports Echo . The second important event of 1973
720-518: A month. Nostalgia calendars, featuring old photographs of Sunderland and Seaham, are also produced. The first edition of the Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette was printed on 22 December 1873, on a flat-bed press in Press Lane, Sunderland. Five hundred copies of the four-page issue were produced at noon and 4 pm, and sold for a halfpenny each. Samuel Storey, a former teacher and future Sunderland mayor and Member of Parliament, founded
792-743: A number of glass sculptures. Sunderland has produced a modest number of musicians that have gone on to reach international fame, most notably Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics . Kenickie , which featured Lauren Laverne on vocals, also achieved a top ten album and wide critical acclaim in the mid-to-late 1990s. In recent years, a thriving underground music scene in Sunderland has helped the likes of Smalltown Heroes , The futureheads , Field Music , and more recently Frankie & The Heartstrings gain national recognition. Other famous Sunderland musicians include punk rockers The Toy Dolls , who broke
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#1732779768665864-553: A quarter of the merchant tonnage produced in the UK at this period. Competition from overseas caused a downturn in demand for Sunderland built ships toward the end of the 20th century. The last shipyard in Sunderland closed in 1988. St Benedict Biscop was adopted as the city's patron saint in March 2004. The Local Government Act 1972 created two different two-tier systems for local administration, with different division of functions. As
936-411: A redesign in 1959. Instead, the paper became known as Echo Sunderland for several years, although the name Sunderland Echo and Shipping Gazette continued to be printed in much smaller type above the new title. A further title-piece redesign in 1972, however, dispensed with the words Shipping Gazette and introduced an illustration of Wearmouth Bridge alongside the title Echo Sunderland . Following
1008-528: A regional office in the university's Media Centre. Sunderland was named "The Facebook Capital of Britain" by the BBC in February 2010. The statistics showed that people in Sunderland were more likely to log on to the social networking site than anywhere else in the UK. The only professional sporting team in Sunderland is the football team, Sunderland A.F.C. , which was formed in 1879, and plays home games at
1080-530: A specially printed edition of the newspaper appeared on the TV show Touching Evil , starring Robson Green , in the same year. City of Sunderland Sunderland ( / ˈ s ʌ n d ər l ə n d / ), also known as the City of Sunderland , is a metropolitan borough with city status in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear , England. It is named after its largest settlement, Sunderland , spanning
1152-495: A township independent of Sunderland. Carroll's connection with Sunderland, and the area's history, is documented in Bryan Talbot 's 2007 graphic novel Alice in Sunderland . More recently, Sunderland-born Terry Deary , writer of the series of Horrible Histories books, has achieved fame and success, and many others such as thriller writer Sheila Quigley , are following his lead. The Salford-born painter, L. S. Lowry ,
1224-480: Is now part of the Northumbria Police Force area. This force was set up in 1974, and covers the whole of Tyne and Wear plus the much larger but much less densely populated county of Northumberland . The city is unparished, except for Hetton-le-Hole which is a civil parish , and which has a town council . The city has had a Labour -controlled council since 1974, and often before that. After
1296-571: Is the largest theatre in the North East, reopened in December 2004 following a major redevelopment allowing it to stage West End shows such as Miss Saigon , Starlight Express and My Fair Lady , all of which have been performed at the Empire. The Empire is the only theatre between Leeds and Glasgow large enough to accommodate such shows. It has also played host to an annual season from
1368-626: The Portsmouth Evening News . An attempt to buy the Shields Gazette , the country's oldest daily newspaper, failed. The syndicate finally broke up in 1885, with Storey retaining control of the Echo , Hampshire Telegraph , Portsmouth News and the Northern Daily Mail . These papers formed the basis of a new company, Portsmouth and Sunderland Newspapers Ltd, formed in the 1930s. The 19th century ended with
1440-586: The 2011 local elections Labour gained a further four seats from the Conservatives. After the 2015 General election the composition of the council was Labour 66, Conservative 6 and independent 3. After the 2019 Sunderland City Council election , Sunderland became one of the few British councils with all five major parties represented. The council make up was Labour 51, Conservative 12, Liberal Democrats 8, UKIP 3 and Green Party 1. Since major boundary changes in 2010, there are three constituencies covering
1512-494: The Birmingham Royal Ballet for over ten years. The Royalty Theatre is the home of the amateur Royalty Theatre group who also put on a number of low-budget productions throughout the year. Renowned film producer David Parfitt belonged to this company before achieving worldwide fame and is now a patron of the theatre. The Empire also played host to the final performance of comic actor Sid James , who died of
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#17327797686651584-676: The County Borough of Sunderland . The borough was granted city status on 20 May 1992 to celebrate the Queen's Ruby Jubilee . At the Queen's Golden Jubilee the city petitioned to be allowed a Lord Mayor , but was unsuccessful. Although the city does not have a cathedral , as it is located in the Diocese of Durham , it does have Sunderland Minster . Between 1939 and 1945 the Wear yards launched 245 merchant ships totalling 1.5 million tons,
1656-410: The Echo and other newspapers, for £10.2m. The Sunderland Echo is an evening newspaper, published from Monday to Saturday each week. The paper has a daily circulation of 4,580. The news coverage provided by the Echo focuses mainly on local events, including human interest, crime and court stories, as well as reports on the local football team, Sunderland AFC . Independent research carried out for
1728-744: The Echo as its Campaigning Newspaper of the Year for the Drug Busters drive, and the campaign also won an award from the International Newspaper Marketing Association . In the 135 years of its existence, the Echo has become part of the culture of the North East of England and a replica branch office of the Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette was built at the open air Beamish Museum in County Durham in 1991. Designed to show visitors how
1800-526: The Echo become the first daily newspaper in the North East to be completely produced by photo-composition and web-offset printing. It also saw a change in the Echo 's appearance, with a new shape, bolder typefaces and clearer printing. The first new-look Echo was printed at Pennywell on 26 April 1976 and was issue number 32,512. Another change inspired by the move was a return for the Football Echo man. The cartoon character had for years indicated
1872-577: The Echo building was undamaged, it was forced to print its competitor's paper under wartime rules. It was during this time that the paper's format changed, from a broadsheet to its current tabloid layout, because of national newsprint shortages. The Echo is published Monday–Saturday and was formerly part of the Johnston Press group—one of the United Kingdom's largest publishers of local and regional newspapers. As of December 2022,
1944-515: The Echo in 2000 found readers spent an average of 33 minutes reading the paper. The same survey showed the Echo appealed to people across the range of demographics , with between 44 and 50% of people in each socio-economic grouping being regular readers. The Sunderland Echo covers a circulation area of 40 square miles (100 km) in North East England, which includes parts of South Tyneside and County Durham , as well as
2016-624: The Echo included lengthy reports of Liberal meetings, and critical articles on Liberal opponents. The Sunderland Echo was launched with an initial investment of £3,500, raised by donations of £500 each from Storey and his business partners. Those joining the venture were Quaker banker Edward Backhouse, shipbroker and MP Edward Temperley Gourley, shipbuilder and MP Sir Charles Palmer, newspaper editor Richard Ruddock, rope-maker Thomas Glaholm and draper Thomas Scott Turnbull. Lack of experience—only Ruddock had previous knowledge of newspaper management—and over-optimistic estimates of costs meant that
2088-625: The Echo made a profit. It was a time of intense competition; the Sunderland Times converted from a bi-weekly to a daily paper in the same month as the Echo moved to Bridge Street, and Tory supporters started a paper of their own, the Sunderland Daily Post . The Sunderland Times was the first to collapse, but the Post survived for the next quarter of a century, providing the Echo with an often bitter rival. Following
2160-412: The Echo . Reporters went off to battle and, after the cost of newsprint soared, the paper was forced to double in price to a penny . The Echo' s 50th anniversary in 1923 was marked by a visit from company chairman Samuel Storey. Storey died two years later, three months after his eldest son Fred, and the chairmanship passed to another Samuel—Fred's elder son. In the same year, plans were laid to improve
2232-693: The People's Republic of China . Sunderland and Washington share historical links, as the ancestors of the first President of the United States of America, George Washington , lived in Washington Old Hall , which is within the municipal boundaries of Sunderland. The Mackem accent and dialect is often mistaken for Geordie by people not from the region, as the two tongues sound similar in pronunciation and diction. The Sunderland dialect also has several variations between different areas of
Sunderland Echo - Misplaced Pages Continue
2304-556: The Radical views held by Storey and his partners, it was also Sunderland's first local daily paper. The inaugural edition of the Echo was printed in Press Lane, Sunderland on 22 December 1873; 1,000 copies were produced and sold for a halfpenny each. The Echo survived intense competition in its early years, as well as the depression of the 1930s and two World Wars. Sunderland was heavily bombed in World War II and, although
2376-561: The elections of May 2003 the political structure was 63 Labour, 9 Conservative , and 1 independent . The only Liberal Party councillor sat with the only Liberal Democrat as a "Liberal/Democrat" group. Three councillors resigned from the Labour Party following disputes over the selection of candidates for the 2004 elections. Two became independent members; one joined the Liberal Democrat party, becoming group leader after
2448-480: The 2004 municipal elections. The reorganisation of electoral areas saw major changes in all but two wards, but the elections of 10 June 2004, the first fought under the new boundaries, saw little change in the political representation of the city as a whole, with 61 Labour, 12 Conservative, and 2 Liberal Democrat councillors elected. The Conservative party won all three seats in a new ward whose boundaries spanned several old wards. The Liberal Democrats stronghold ward
2520-408: The 49,000-seat-capacity Stadium of Light . Sunderland also has the north-east's top women's football team, Sunderland A.F.C. Women , who have been financially separated from the men's team since summer 2005. They currently play in the top tier of English women's football, FA Women's Premier League National Division , despite their financial struggles. Sunderland's longest stadium occupancy so far
2592-468: The Bridge Street premises. The work included enlarging the printing works and was completed by the end of the 1920s. The depression of the 1930s brought mass unemployment to Sunderland. But, for the Echo , it was also a time of important structural changes in ownership. A new company controlling the three titles owned by the Storey family was formed in 1934—Portsmouth and Sunderland Newspapers Ltd. There
2664-608: The City of Sunderland, all currently regarded as safe for the Labour Party : In the 1992, 1997, 2001 and 2005 general elections, the former Sunderland South constituency was the first to declare the results, and the tradition was continued by the new Houghton and Sunderland South seat in 2010 and 2015. Sunderland is twinned with two cities: Essen , Germany, and Saint-Nazaire , France. It also has Friendship Agreements with Washington, D.C. , US; and Harbin and Nanjing , both in
2736-424: The Conservatives, whilst former Labour Mayor Julianna Heron lost to an independent: the same person who had defeated her husband in 2003 and who was in turn defeated by him in 2004. The Conservative party made further significant gains in the 2008 election , gaining five additional seats. The election in 2010 , held at the same time as the general election saw Labour gain four seats to increase their majority. In
2808-665: The Museums and Archive Service, of the Tyne and Wear Fire and Civil Defence Authority and of the Passenger Transport Authority is exercised not by committees of directly elected county councillors but by nominees chosen by the elected members of the five district authorities. Sunderland has not had a separate police force since 1967, when the Borough of Sunderland Police merged with Durham Constabulary. The city
2880-512: The anniversary celebrations. The old newspaper building has since been replaced by a modern apartment block. The Echo name still lives on, however, as the project has been named Echo24 . The Echo moved from Bridge Street to a purpose-built newspaper office at Echo House, Pennywell Industrial Estate, in 1976. The move brought an end to the traditional methods of printing using hot molten metal to produce type and printing plates, and introduced computer technology. The £4 million development saw
2952-546: The city centre and was opened in 1988. It is currently owned by Land Securities Group after they purchased the site in 1990. The centre receives over 26 million shopping visits every year. Sunderland has two local newspapers: the daily evening tabloid, the Sunderland Echo , founded in 1873, and the Sunderland Star— a free newspaper . It also has its own community radio station Spark Sunderland , and
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3024-604: The city of Sunderland. Whitburn , Marsden and The Boldons , all to the north of Sunderland, are among the South Tyneside communities covered. Peterlee , Horden , Seaham , Dawdon , Murton and Seaton , to the south of Sunderland, are the main towns and villages in the East Durham circulation area. The paper is also sold in Washington , Burnmoor and Durham , which are to the west of Sunderland. Villages on
3096-587: The city, as demonstrated when the hoax tapes purporting to be of the Yorkshire Ripper were analysed. The tapes were made by a man who came to be known as Wearside Jack , and were thought by linguistic experts to be made by someone specifically from the Castletown area of Sunderland. When the perpetrator, John Humble was eventually caught he confirmed that he did indeed attend school in the Castletown area of Sunderland in his childhood. Lewis Carroll
3168-414: The city. According to independent research conducted on behalf of the Echo in 2000, the "popularity of the Echo in Sunderland and East Durham is greater than that of all other regional newspapers put together". In addition to the main newspaper, the Echo also produces a number of regular supplements and articles of specialist interest each week. These include sport and business supplements each Monday,
3240-538: The deaths of two further partners, Backhouse in 1879 and Turnbull in 1880, Storey bought their shares to become the Echo' s chief proprietor. A year later, in 1881, he met Scottish-born millionaire Andrew Carnegie , and formed a syndicate with him to set up new newspapers and buy up others. Among those purchased were the Wolverhampton Express and Star , the Northern Daily Mail in Hartlepool and
3312-494: The decades. Examples of notable writing include a 2006 campaign highlighting the threat posed by bogus callers to the elderly and a 2005 campaign to protect 999 crews from being attacked on duty, which both received official praise in Parliament . A 1996 drug education campaign, which included the creation of a telephone service for tip-offs about suspected local drug dealers, was also highly praised. The Newspaper Society named
3384-619: The dissolution of Sunderland Nissan F.C. , Sunderland itself now has only one non-league side, Sunderland Ryhope Community Association F.C. who now play in the Northern League Division One after a successful promotion campaign in the 2009/10 season. However, Washington F.C. also hail from Washington in the city. The Northern Echo Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include
3456-468: The initial funds were quickly exhausted. Storey later admitted: "In our childlike, simple ways, we thought this might be sufficient, but in a few months all the money was gone, so we paid in another £3,500 and that soon went too." As the prospect of any great financial success receded, Ruddock, Gourley and Palmer withdrew from the project. Storey, however, remained dedicated to the idea, and took on their shares. A further £7,000 in investment from Storey enabled
3528-447: The match results of Sunderland with a smile, a frown or a tear, while adorning the outside wall of the Bridge Street building. After several years in storage, he was returned to the wall of the new Echo building in 1976, where he still remains today. In 1985 there was a break in tradition when the Echo title-piece appeared reversed out in white on a red background, instead of the more familiar red or black lettering. The new title-piece
3600-405: The newspaper would have operated in around 1913, the life-size exhibit includes a distribution office, reporter's office, stationery shop and fully working printing press. The replica office took museum staff several months to research and create, and was opened by Sir Richard Storey, great-grandson of Echo founder Samuel Storey, on 10 May 1991. A racehorse was named after the paper in 1991, which
3672-548: The outskirts of the city, including Houghton-le-Spring , Penshaw , Fencehouses , Ryhope and Hetton-le-Hole are included in the circulation area too. The main newspaper rivals in the Sunderland and County Durham area include The Northern Echo , The Journal , the Hartlepool Mail and the Evening Chronicle . The Sunderland Star , a free weekly newspaper printed by the Echo , is also distributed in
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#17327797686653744-549: The paper had an average daily circulation of 4,580 The Echo was based at Echo House, Pennywell Industrial Estate, Sunderland, from 1976 until April 2015. The Echo moved to Rainton Meadows Industrial Estate that year and then to the North East Business and Innovation (BIC) Centre at Wearfield, Sunderland, in 2019. In December 2020 it was announced that former Mirror Group chief executive David Montgomery's group National World had acquired JPI Media, which owned
3816-604: The paper to provide a platform for his political views and to fill a gap in the newspaper market. Although the 100,000-strong population of Sunderland was already served by two weekly newspapers— The Sunderland Times and The Sunderland Herald —neither reflected the radical views held by Storey and his partners and there were no daily papers in the town. Storey promised readers in the first edition that, if things went wrong, "the Echo would try its best to put them right". But he added: "Always with moderation and without esteeming all those who oppose us as fools and knaves." Early copies of
3888-568: The remaining partners to abandon the "wheezing flat-bed press" and, in July 1876, the Echo moved to new premises at 14 Bridge Street, Sunderland. Bridge Street remained the home of the Echo for the next 100 years. Old buildings were demolished, new machine and composing rooms built on West Wear Street and two rotary presses installed just before the move, each capable of printing 24,000 copies an hour. These changes brought about increased circulation, but it took another seven years before
3960-413: The rivalry between the Echo and the Sunderland Daily Post intensifying. The Silksworth Colliery strike of 1891 pitted the two papers against each other, with the Post attacking Storey for having exploited the strike for political gain. Storey successfully sued for libel. The new century saw the Echo falling behind the times in its production methods. Established as a "leading daily newspaper", it
4032-581: The seven most heavily bombed towns in the country. Despite the heavy shelling of the North East coast and River Wear , the Echo offices and printing plant escaped undamaged. The Shields Gazette , the Echo's nearest rival, was not as fortunate. Its premises in Chapter Row, South Shields , were bombed in September 1941 and, under an emergency wartime arrangement, the paper was printed on the Echo presses. The Echo continued to be published throughout
4104-523: The shadow of Penshaw Monument , was attended by 30,000 visitors and featured Foo Fighters , Kasabian , KT Tunstall , Chemical Brothers and The Black Eyed Peas . The Empire Theatre sometimes plays host to music acts. In 2009, it hosts Jane McDonald and The Drifters among others. The Sunderland Stadium of Light has hosted regular concerts since 2009, including the likes of Oasis , Take That , Coldplay , Kings of Leon and Red Hot Chili Peppers . The Sunderland Empire Theatre , opened in 1907,
4176-699: The top five of the charts with " Nellie the Elephant " in December 1984; the melodic hardcore punk band Leatherface ; the lead singer of dance outfit Olive , Ruth Ann Boyle , who achieved a UK chart-topper with " You're Not Alone " in May 1997 and has gone on to work with fellow chart-toppers Enigma ; and A Tribe of Toffs , who made number 21 with their cult hit " John Kettley is a Weatherman " in December 1988. On 7 and 8 May 2005, Sunderland played host to BBC Radio 1 's Big Weekend concert—the UK's largest free music festival. The event, held at Herrington Country Park in
4248-403: The war, despite paper rationing , a lack of reporters and a strict censorship of photographs. The war did have one major impact on the Echo —in the form of its size. Wartime restrictions on newsprint reduced the former broadsheet to its present tabloid size, and this style has been retained ever since. The post-war years saw the Echo drop Shipping Gazette from its main title-piece, following
4320-416: The whole company. In September 2012 it was announced the multimillion-pound press hall was to close, with the loss of 81 jobs, and printing operations moved to Sheffield. On Saturday, 3 November, the final Echo was printed in Sunderland. The Echo was based at Echo House, Pennywell Industrial Estate, Sunderland, from 1976 until April 2015. The Echo's new-look website was launched in February 2007, while
4392-587: Was a change in name for the Echo too, when the word Daily was dropped from its title of Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette . The decade also, however, brought a fire which destroyed most of the bound files of archive copies of the Echo . Nineteenth-century editions of the Echo can only be accessed in Sunderland at the City Centre Library in Fawcett Street. The Second World War brought havoc to Wearside , with Sunderland one of
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#17327797686654464-643: Was a frequent visitor to the area. He wrote most of Jabberwocky at Whitburn as well as " The Walrus and the Carpenter ". Some parts of the area are also widely believed to be the inspiration for his Alice in Wonderland stories, such as Hylton Castle and Backhouse Park. There is a statue to Carroll in Whitburn library. Lewis Carroll was also a visitor to the Rectory of Holy Trinity Church, Southwick; then
4536-527: Was a frequent visitor, staying in the Seaburn Hotel in Sunderland. Many of his paintings of seascapes and shipbuilding are based on Wearside scenes. The Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art on Fawcett Street and Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens showcase exhibitions and installations from up-and-coming and established artists alike, with the latter holding an extensive collection of Lowry's work. The National Glass Centre on Liberty Way also exhibits
4608-440: Was abolished entirely, and became part of four new wards, and the Liberal Democrat councillors elected in 2004 were from two very different areas. Following further disputes within the Labour Party, three councillors resigned the whip at the end of 2006 and, joined by one of the Liberal Democrat members formed an independent group, which is the minority party in opposition. At the elections of May 2007 , Labour lost three seats to
4680-407: Was designed to give a greater impact to the colourful front page. It was the first in a series of changes which included dropping Sunderland from the title in 1990, the paper simply becoming The Echo . This change was reversed in 1997, with a return to the name Sunderland Echo . The 1990s saw the Echo take a huge technological leap forward when a £12 million printing press was installed. It
4752-608: Was granted city status in 1992, the Ruby Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II 's accession to the throne. The borough had a population of 575,400 at the time of the 2011 census, with the majority of the population (274,286) residing in Sunderland, making it the largest settlement in the north east of England. The metropolitan borough was formed in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 by the merger of several districts of County Durham – Washington Urban District , Houghton-le-Spring Urban District and Hetton Urban District – with
4824-519: Was of Roker Park for 99 years beginning in 1898, with relocation taking place due to the stadium's confined location and the need to build an all-seater stadium. The initial relocation plan had been for a stadium to be situated alongside the Nissan factory, but these were abandoned in favour of the Stadium of Light at Monkwearmouth on the site of a colliery that had closed at the end of 1993. Since
4896-543: Was one of the last to still be setting type by hand in 1900. This changed in 1902, when Linotype lead-setting machines were brought in to set type mechanically. A landslide victory for the Liberal Party followed at the 1906 General Election , which heralded a new era for the Echo . The paper's old rival, the Sunderland Daily Post , was discontinued six months later, and the Football Echo was launched on 7 September 1907. World War I brought its own difficulties for
4968-541: Was owned by a consortium of 250 Echo readers. The gelding won races at Hamilton , Redcar , Newcastle upon Tyne and Haydock in the early 1990s, but had to be put down on 17 February 1996 after pulling up badly lame during a routine morning gallop. The Echo was also used in a display at the Science Museum in London in 1999, to show how writing can be made simpler for people with reading difficulties, and
5040-439: Was still part of Portsmouth and Sunderland Newspapers until the end of the 1990s, although printed by Northeast Press, a subsidiary of the main company. However, the last link to the original founder, Samuel Storey, disappeared in 1999, when Johnston Press took over the business in May that year. The Sunderland Echo is still published by Northeast Press, although Johnston Press—the nation's second largest regional publisher—now owns
5112-423: Was the 100th anniversary of the paper. Celebrations included a birthday party, with dignitaries such as Sunderland A.F.C. manager Bob Stokoe among the guests. Lord Buckton , the chairman of Portsmouth and Sunderland Newspapers Ltd, announced his retirement at the event, and was succeeded by his son, The Honourable Richard Storey. News of a move from Bridge Street to Pennywell, Sunderland, was also announced during
5184-478: Was used for the first time in December 1996 and was capable of printing up to 70,000 newspapers an hour. The press was part of a multimillion-pound revamp, which also saw journalists making up full news pages on computer screens for the first time. The Echo' s first internet news service was also launched in 1996. A further £5 million was spent on updating the pre-press and press hall area in 2004, to improve printing quality and speed of production. The Echo
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