Leeuwarder Courant: История старейшей газеты Нидерландов

Dutch newspaper

The Leeuwarder Courant is the oldest daily newspaper in the Netherlands. It is considered a "popular" (as opposed to "quality") newspaper.

Abraham Ferwerda was a printer and publisher in Leeuwarden, who first published the Leeuwarder Courant on 29 July 1752, and reportedly made a fortune publishing his paper. From the beginning, the intention was to produce a politically neutral paper which would gain revenue from objectively reporting news; until well into the nineteenth century the paper maintained its rather bland image. A conscious choice was also to focus on mercantile and international news, rather than report on too many local issues which might cause controversy with the local and national governments. For a long time it was the only medium for advertisements in the region, which helped ensure its commercial success, and until 1842 it was the only serious newspaper in Friesland. In 2013 Leeuwarder Courant was awarded the European Newspaper of the Year in the category of regional newspapers.

While initially publishing mainly business and international news, in the nineteenth century the paper improved in quality and layout, and began publishing more news and stories related to Friesland. Important in this respect was the column "Mengelwerk," a kind of Frisian miscellany, which was published every Tuesday starting February 2, 1830, and included anecdotes and stories, and usually Frisian matters. Most of these anecdotes were written in Dutch, though the occasional West Frisian entry was printed. Only some of the content of "Mengelwerk" was in West Frisian, and today still the paper publishes mostly articles written in Dutch; it was estimated that only around 5% of its content (and that of its main competitor, the Friesch Dagblad) is in West Frisian.