Express & Echo

It was founded in September 1904 as the result of the merger of two earlier newspapers for the city. The Evening Express of the Devon Weekly Times was established in 1866 and became the Devon Evening Express in 1873. The Western Echo and Star was established only in February 1904.

For the first 25 years of its existence it appeared on green newsprint. It was a broadsheet until 1979. It was an evening title for over a century after its foundation. However, in the late summer of 2011 it switched to weekly publication in view of falling circulation figures and a changing market. Its companion weekly freesheet, the Exeter Times, ceased publication at the same time.

It’s published by Express & Echo News & Media Ltd, part of the Daily Mail & General Trust‘s former regional newspaper publishing wing, Northcliffe Media, which became part of the Local World group in late 2012. The editorial offices are in Exeter.

Like other Northcliffe newspaper websites, its website was originally one of a series of “thisis….co.uk” sites, and became a local portal site in early 2011. However, following the change of ownership, Local World announced that it would be starting a parallel series of “publisher-branded” sites from April 2013 onwards; the Express & Echo was one of the first newspapers to receive its own site.

It comes out on Thursdays.