De Telegraaf
De Telegraaf is the largest
Dutch daily morning
newspaper, with a daily circulation of approximately 800,000. De Telegraaf ("The Telegraph") is based in
Amsterdam.
De Telegraaf is owned by the
Telegraaf Media Groep, which also publishes a daily free newspaper,
Sp!ts (which in Dutch means both "rush hour" and "sharp point").
This national newspaper contains many "sensational" and sports-related articles, and one or more pages whose content is supplied by the
gossip-magazine
Privé ("Private"). The financial news coverage, however, is more serious in tone. The paper targets a broad audience, mostly in a populist style, attracting specific target groups for the paper's advertisers. In the recent past, editorial commentary often supported the views of the late
Pim Fortuyn.
De Telegraaf was founded by
Henry Tindal, who simultaneously started another paper
De Courant ("The Gazette"). The first issue appeared on
1 January 1893. Following Tindal's death on
31 January 1902 the printer
Hak Holdert, with backing from financiers, took over
De Telegraaf and
De Courant on
12 September 1902. This proved to be a good investment, particularly with regard to
De Courant, enabling Holdert between
1903 and
1923 to take over one newspaper after another, suspending publication as he went. He added the name
Amsterdamsche Courant ("Amsterdam Gazette") as a subtitle to
De Telegraaf, and
Het Nieuws van den Dag ("The News of the Day") to
De Courant. In
1926, he began construction of a new printing facility at the
Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal in Amsterdam, designed by
J.F. Staal and
G.J. Langhout. Construction was completed and the building occupied in
1930. At one point, in June
1966, the building was besieged by angry construction workers and
Provo followers, after falsely reporting that a victim of labour dispute had not been killed by the police, but by a co-worker. In
1974,
De Telegraaf moved to its current location in the
Basisweg.
During
World War I, when the Netherlands was officially
neutral, Holdert's
French sympathies and his pro-
English standpoint caused
De Telegraaf to be the focus of some controversy. During
World War II, the Telegraaf companies published pro-
German papers, which led to a twenty year ban on publication after the war. The prohibition was, however, lifted in
1949 and
De Telegraaf flourished anew to become the biggest newspaper in the Netherlands.
De Courant/Nieuws van de Dag ceased publication in
1998.
Since
21 March 2004,
De Telegraaf has also appeared on Sundays.
*
Telegraaf Media Groep*
Telegraaf online (in Dutch)
