Newspaper of record

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Newspaper of record is a term that may refer either to any publicly available newspaper that has been authorized by a government to publish public or legal notices, or any major newspaper that has a large circulation and whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered professional and typically authoritative.

The first type of newspaper of record (or newspaper of public record) is often formally defined by a statute or other official action of a governing body. Such a newspaper is supposed to be available to the public, and publication of notices in that newspaper is considered sufficient to comply with legal requirements for public notice.

The second type of "newspaper of record" is not defined by any formal criteria. The use of the term implies that a newspaper is a reliable institution that publishes trustworthy descriptions of events, but this assessment may be disputed. Major newspapers of record may be expected to have independent editorial policies, and to publish statements of opinion that are distinct from those of their proprietor or their government. They are more likely than other newspapers to be sold abroad and to be cited in scholarly publications.

Newspapers of record in the United States

Because of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and U.S. Supreme Court decisions such as Near v. Minnesota, the government does not (and cannot) define certain papers as having a right to print, or otherwise promote, restrict, or license newspapers. Therefore, in the U.S. a newspaper of record is generally held to be any public newspaper that has a large circulation (in many states, public notices are required to be published in a paper "of general circulation" in the vicinity where the notice is being issued, such as the county or city), professional editorial and news-gathering functions, and generally unbiased/objective reporting.

There are provisions whereby a newspaper may file an application to be recognized by the local government as a newspaper of public record for the purpose of publishing legal notices. This is generally done for revenue purposes, as certain types of legal publications (such as fictitious name registrations, mortgage and trust deed foreclosure and notices dealing with a lawsuit) may require publication in a newspaper that is not merely a de facto newspaper of record, but one that has specifically registered with the government as one and been recognized as such. However, being a "newspaper of public record" does not make a periodical into what is known as a "newspaper of record."

In the United States The New York Times is a key newspaper of record.^[1]

Newspapers of record in Europe

France

Le Monde is considered a newspaper of record.^[2]

Hungary

Népszabadság^[3] of Budapest is considered a paper of record.

United Kingdom

The Times^[4] and The Daily Telegraph^[4] rival each other as newspapers of record. The official newspaper of record is the London Gazette which publishes official notices but does not carry "news" stories in the usual current meaning of the word.

Newspapers of record in Asia

People's Republic of China

The People's Daily is a national newspaper of public record, i.e. that the PRC government uses it to publish legal notices.^[5]

Hong Kong

The Government of The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Gazette is the government publication for legal and public notices.^[6] The Hong Kong Government also approve and specify a list of newspapers for issuing legal or public notices.^[7]

References