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Rochdale Observer

The Rochdale Observer is a twice-weekly tabloid newspaper published on Wednesdays and Saturdays and sold in the town and Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale in Greater Manchester (formerly South East Lancashire).

It was founded in 1856. It’s published by the Greater Manchester Weekly Newspaper Group, part of the MEN Media Group. MEN Media was taken over by Trinity Mirror in March 2010 from the Guardian Media Group.

Up until 2009 its editorial offices were in the town, but MEN Media centralised its editorial operations at the GMG headquarters building in central Manchester in May that year. Following the Trinity Mirror takeover, the editorial offices shifted to Chadderton on the outskirts of Oldham.

The Saturday edition has the larger circulation of the two, selling more than half as many copies again as the Wednesday edition.

It’s particularly proud of its record of campaigning on local issues; one of these campaigns resulted in the building of the Rochdale Infirmary.

A companion weekly freesheet, the Rochdale Express, closed in August 2011.

Since January 2013 its web presence has been through the Rochdale subdomain of the Manchester Evening News‘s website; it had previously had its own subdomain on the MEN Media website.

  • Address:
  • Rochdale Observer
    Mitchell Henry House
    Hollinwood Avenue
    Chadderton
    OLDHAM
    OL9 8EF
  • Tel:
  • 0161 211 2807