Leeuwarder Courant

Leeuwarder Courant

Leeuwarder Courant, front page and sections
Type	Daily newspaper
Owner(s)	NDC Mediagroep
Founded	1752
Political alignment	Centrist
Headquarters	Leeuwarden, Netherlands
Website	www.leeuwardercourant.nl

The Leeuwarder Courant is the oldest daily newspaper in the Netherlands. Founded by Abraham Ferwerda, it first appeared in 1752. The Leeuwarder Courant was the first paper in the Dutch province Friesland and its capital Leeuwarden. 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. In fact, during the latter part of the eighteenth century (the period which saw the decline of the Dutch Republic) the paper was criticized its lack of patriotism. 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.

After Ferwerda's death, his son-in-law, Doeke Ritske Smeding, took over and guided the paper though the French occupation of the early nineteenth century (during which many Dutch papers were shut down by the occupier). Smeding died in 1814; Pieter Koumans Smeding, his cousin, ran the paper until 1854. His heirs owned the newspaper until 1947.

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.