The Winnipeg Sun is a daily tabloid newspaper in Winnipeg , Manitoba , Canada.
27-535: It is owned by The Klein Group circa 2024.Following its acquisition of Sun Media , opinion plus an emphasis on local news stories, and extensive sports coverage. The newspaper, like most of those in the Canadian Sun chain, are known for short, snappy news stories aimed primarily at working class readers. The Sun's layout is based somewhat upon that of British tabloids. The newspaper is distributed throughout
54-482: A Sunday edition on September 12, 1982. The Sun moved to seven-day publication in 1992. Because the newspaper did not normally publish a Tuesday edition, a special edition reporting on assassination attempt of U.S. President Ronald Reagan was printed on March 31, 1981. Starting August 4, 1981, the Sun moved to a morning home-delivery schedule. The newspapers were expected to be done by 6:30 a.m. On March 10, 1982,
81-481: A comics page. Some of the initial comics published in the Sun were Ziggy , Frank and Ernest , Dallas , Ben Swift , John Darling , Graves, Inc. , Barbara Cartland's Romances , Heathcliff , The Neighborhood , and Winthrop . Sun Media Sun Media Corporation was the owner of several tabloid and broadsheet newspapers in Canada and the 49% owner of the now defunct Sun News Network . It
108-623: A continuing Funky Winkerbean plotline had Jessica actively searching for information about the father she lost at a very young age. Phil the Forecaster also made very, very occasional appearances in Funky Winkerbean , reappearing most recently in 2021 as he retired from his weather forecasting job at Channel One after over 40 years. Several minor characters in Funky Winkerbean' s other spin-off strip Crankshaft have also worked at Channel One. This comic strip –related article
135-460: A contractual conflict with his syndicate ( King Features Syndicate ) over ownership of the character, stunned the strip's remaining readers by killing off Darling in the next-to-last strip. (The final strip featured other characters gathered around Darling's gravesite.) John Darling's murder (which had been depicted as being by an unknown assailant) stayed unsolved until a 1997 Funky Winkerbean storyline celebrating that strip's 25th anniversary. Over
162-493: A similar move by the Winnipeg Free Press some years later. In February 1983, Quebecor invested in the newspaper, at a time when circulation of the Sun had grown to 34,000 daily. Lack of advertisers and not owning its own printing press caused the paper's debts to grow. The new owners reviewed continuing Winnipeg magazine, but by June 1984 the last edition was published. On January 5, 1999, Quebecor acquired
189-470: A talk-show host, was originally a supporting character in Batiuk's strip Funky Winkerbean before being spun off into his own strip. Much of the strip's humor came from Darling's outsized ego, quirks, and frequent displays of ignorance; in one strip, he interviews musician Prince , asking him "Exactly which country are you a prince of?" Other featured characters were Darling's co-workers at "Channel One",
216-602: The Calgary Albertan on July 31, 1980 for $ 1.3 million and relaunched it days later as the Calgary Sun , with the same format and appearance as its sister papers. In 1979, it purchased the United Press International 's Canadian subsidiary, the former British United Press . It ran the news agency for several years before selling it to Canadian Press in 1985. In 1983, 50% of Sun Media
243-540: The Winnipeg Free Press . While planning for the Winnipeg Sun was taking place, another group that was publishing The Downtowner and The Suburban , had publicly stated in their editorial they were strongly considering transforming their weeklies into Winnipeg's next major daily newspaper; this, however, did not happen. In response to demand for a new newspaper voice in the city, the Winnipeg Sun
270-573: The Sun reduced the size of the paper to more closely resemble that of the other tabloid-size newspapers. The newspaper started publishing Sunday through Friday beginning September 12, 1982, with its largest paper to date at 120 pages. Winnipeg, curiously, is one of the very few cities in Canada or the United States where a new daily newspaper emerged after the death of the No. 2 underdog. Aside from
297-944: The Sun Media chain of newspapers. On May 10, 1999, the newspaper was relaunched, taking on an appearance consistent with the Toronto Sun , the Edmonton Sun , the Calgary Sun and the Ottawa Sun . On June 22, 2020, the Sun discontinued its print edition on Mondays. On May 27, 2024, Postmedia announced that it would sell the Winnipeg Sun , the Portage la Prairie Graphic Leader , Kenora Miner and News , and Postmedia's Winnipeg printing operations to politician and former Sun publisher Kevin Klein . The Sun carries
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#1732772592796324-470: The TV station where he worked, including ratings-obsessed producer Reed Roberts ; clueless old-school anchor Charlie Lord ; shrewish reporter Brenda Harpy ; and insecure weatherman Phil . The strip also featured a large number of parodic appearances by celebrities (often being interviewed by Darling); this was such a feature of the strip that numerous newspapers carried John Darling on their TV page, rather than
351-572: The Winnipeg metro region through retail sales, vending machines and home delivery. According to Canadian Newspaper Association figures, the newspaper's average weekday circulation for the second quarter of 2016 (April–June) is 44,424. This figure was 36,905 on Saturdays, and 38,079 on Sundays. On August 27, 1980, Southam Newspapers closed the Winnipeg Tribune after 90 years in publication, leaving Winnipeg with only one daily newspaper,
378-456: The comics page. Sunday strips generally included two panels of "TV Trivia" content otherwise unrelated to the strip as a whole. John Darling debuted in March 1979 in 22 newspapers. The strip's original artist was Tom Armstrong , who left in 1985 for his own creation, Marvin , though he did return to draw the feature's final three weeks. His replacement was Gerry Shamray , whose first strip
405-513: The course of the storyline, Winkerbean character Les Moore wrote a book on Darling's murder ("Fallen Star") and solved the case. The murderer was revealed to be Peter Mossman, alias Plantman, an occasional character in the strip who reported on gardening and environmental issues. (Plantman had actually uttered the very last words in the John Darling strip, while standing next to Darling's headstone: "Goodbye, old friend.") While Darling himself
432-665: The federal Competition Bureau on March 25, 2015, and closed on April 13. Canoe Sun Media merged with Postmedia rather than being maintained as a separate division. Quebecor had previously sold its community newspapers in Quebec to TC Transcontinental in June 2014, under a deal first announced in December 2013. Sun Publishing was formed on February 4, 1978 through the amalgamation of Toronto Sun Holdings Ltd and Toronto Sun Publishing Ltd. The two companies had been formed in 1971 with
459-663: The following year. In 1988, Sun Media acquired the Ottawa Sunday Herald which it would relaunch as the daily Ottawa Sun . In 1994, Maclean-Hunter was purchased by Rogers Communications . Two years later, on October 4, 1996, the management of the Sun chain under the leadership of Paul Godfrey purchased Rogers' share of the Sun Publishing and renamed the company Sun Media. In 1998, the Financial Post
486-789: The four recently acquired southern Ontario newspapers to the owners of the Toronto Star and became part of its Metroland Media Group . Southam, owned by Conrad Black , would relaunch the Financial Post as the National Post . In 2007, Sun Media acquired and absorbed the Osprey Media chain of small English language newspapers mostly based in Ontario. In 2014, after years of cuts and restructuring, Quebecor sold its Sun Media division to Postmedia which, ironically, had former Sun Media CEO Paul Godfrey as its chief executive. The sale
513-508: The free Metro daily publications, outside of Toronto, Winnipeg is the only other city in English Canada with two separately owned competing metropolitan daily newspapers. In its early days, the newspaper's offices were located at 290 Garry Street in downtown Winnipeg, around the corner from the offices that had housed the defunct Winnipeg Tribune . In 1983, the newspaper moved to a building in suburban Inkster Industrial Park, presaging
540-423: The launch of the Toronto Sun by former staffers of the defunct Toronto Telegram . On February 14, 1978, the Edmonton Sun , the second member of what would become the Sun chain, was announced through a partnership of Sun Media and Edmonton Sun Publishing Ltd. The paper was launched on April 2, 1978. In 1981, the outstanding shares of Edmonton Sun Publishing Ltd were acquired by Sun Media. The company purchased
567-466: Was a subsidiary of Quebecor Media . On October 6, 2014, Quebecor Media announced the sale of the remaining English-language print assets of Sun Media to rival Postmedia . The sale included neither the Sun News Network , which subsequently closed when a buyer was not found, nor Quebecor's French-language papers Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec . The sale was approved by
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#1732772592796594-520: Was acquired by Maclean-Hunter for $ 55 million. That same year, Sun Media, with Maclean-Hunter's backing, acquired the Houston Post for $ 100 million in an attempt to expand into the United States . It was sold for $ 150 million four years later. In 1987, Maclean-Hunter's Financial Post weekly was sold to Sun Media for $ 46 million and was relaunched as a daily tabloid financial newspaper
621-561: Was announced at a press conference in October 1980, and first published on November 5, 1980. Its founders were Al Davies, Frank Goldberg , William (Bill) A. Everitt and Tom Denton, with Denton being the first publisher. It initially published Monday, Wednesday and Friday editions. Afternoon home delivery began on December 19, 1980. Carriers collected $ 1.50 every two weeks from subscribers. It extended its publication cycle to include Tuesday and Thursday editions on April 27, 1981. The paper added
648-539: Was completed in April 2015 and Sun Media was dissolved with its newspapers being absorbed by the Postmedia chain. The following publications have been closed by Sun Media: John Darling (comic strip) John Darling is an American comic strip , created by Tom Batiuk , a spin-off of his earlier comic strip Funky Winkerbean . John Darling appeared from March 25, 1979, to August 4, 1990. John Darling ,
675-466: Was dated March 3, 1985. John Darling wound down in 1990, as writer Batiuk by his own account was growing tired of the work it involved. Perhaps even more of a factor was that the strip was no longer financially remunerative, as it had been dropped by numerous newspapers. With John Darling having been dropped by a number of newspapers over the years, the syndicate decided the strip was simply no longer profitable, and allowed it to die. Batiuk, who had
702-420: Was rarely mentioned in Funky Winkerbean in the years immediately following his 1990 demise, Darling's daughter Jessica appeared as a regular in the Funky Winkerbean strip until 2007, when the feature was retconned by moving the continuing story up several years. The book about Darling's murder was referenced again during a 2010 strip, and Jessica reappeared in 2011. By 2013, John was mentioned quite often, as
729-712: Was sold to Southam Inc. in exchange for the Hamilton Spectator , the Kitchener-Waterloo Record , the Guelph Mercury , and the Cambridge Reporter . Also in 1998, Sun Media was purchased by Quebecor and maintained as a wholly owned subsidiary of it. Godfrey had sought out Quebecor as a "white knight" in order to frustrate an attempted hostile takeover by the Sun's longtime rival, the Toronto Star . In 1999, Quebcor sold
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