Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant
Encyclopedia
The Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant is a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 newspaper for the region of Zeeland
Zeeland
Zeeland , also called Zealand in English, is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg. With a population of about 380,000, its area is about...

. It is owned by Koninklijke Wegener BV
Wegener (company)
Koninklijke Wegener NV is a Dutch publisher of newspapers. It is the largest publisher of regional newspapers, free newspapers and special interest magazines in the Netherlands and also deals with internet products and graphical products-History:...

. Founded in 1758, it is the third-oldest newspaper in the country.

History

The paper is a merger of a number of regional papers, the oldest of which was the Middelburgsche Courant, founded in 1758 in Middelburg
Middelburg
Middelburg is a municipality and a city in the south-western Netherlands and the capital of the province of Zeeland. It is situated in the Midden-Zeeland region. It has a population of about 48,000.- History of Middelburg :...

. One of its scoops was hiring the first female reporter in the Netherlands, in 1885. In 1933, this newspaper acquired a paper from Goes
Goes
Goes is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands in Zuid-Beveland, in the province Zeeland. The city of Goes has approximately 27,000 residents.-History of Goes:...

, the Goesche Courant. In 1939, it merged with the Vlissingsche Courant, founded 1869 in Vlissingen, and became the Provinciale Zeeuwsche Courant. In 1998 the PZC also acquired the Zierikzeesche Nieuwsbode (from Zierikzee
Zierikzee
Zierikzee is a small city, located on the former island of Schouwen in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland, and lies about 26 km southwest of Hellevoetsluis....

). Its 250th anniversary was celebrated in 2008 in the presence of Beatrix of the Netherlands
Beatrix of the Netherlands
Beatrix is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands comprising the Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and Aruba. She is the first daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. She studied law at Leiden University...

, who received a copy of the commemorative book PZC 250 Jaar.

Lack of regional competition

In 2010, Wegener was fined 20 million Euros by the Dutch competition regulator
Netherlands Competition Authority
The Netherlands Competition Authority is the competition regulator for the Netherlands.- External links :*...

, the Nederlandse Mededingingsautoriteit (NMa). Wegener also owns BN/De Stem, the regional newspaper for North Brabant
North Brabant
North Brabant , sometimes called Brabant, is a province of the Netherlands, located in the south of the country, bordered by Belgium in the south, the Meuse River in the north, Limburg in the east and Zeeland in the west.- History :...

, which also publishes a Zeeland edition. BN/De Stem had been acquired by Wegener in 2000 when it took over VNU, and it had been required to keep both papers editorially separate to continue to offer readers a choice between two independent newspapers. In 2009, complaints had come in that Wegener had indeed combined operations as a cost-cutting measure (it "harmonized" them), which led to the 2010 verdict. Also fined (a first in NMa history) were five individuals within Wegener, with fines ranging from 100,000 to 300,000 Euros. Wegener planned to appeal the decision.

Circulation and readership

In 2006, PZCs circulation was 58,000, down 3% from the year before, following a trend among Dutch regional newspapers. In 2007 and 2008 hovered around 52,000. The paper's reach is much greater than its circulation: visitors to the paper's website brought the total readership up to 250,000 in 2008. Moreover, 48% of the paper's paid subscribers share the paper with their neighbors, the highest such number among Dutch newspapers.
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