Weatherfield Recorder The Weatherfield Recorder was a local free sheet and advertiser for the Weatherfield area which ran from the mid - 1980s until 1990 . Ken Barlow was the editor for most of its run , managing the paper in partnership with majority shareholder Bob Statham from 1983 to 1988 and then as its full owner until it was bought out by the " Gazette " in January 1990 . Publishing history . Early days . The " Recorder " ' s press baron before Ken was Pamela Mitchell . Pamela first crossed paths with Ken when she reported on a meeting at the Community Centre protesting against the new Graffiti Club in April 1983 . As community development officer , Ken chaired the meeting . Despite support from the local residents , the protest failed to stop the club venture , but Pamela thought Ken put his views across well and asked him to write an article for the " Recorder " about any local interest issue . Ken chose to attack the council ' s inaction over the number of children run over Clifton Road , namely the promise of a footbridge which had not materialised . As Ken had no journalistic experience , his article was heavily edited by Pamela , much to his ire . A few weeks later , Pamela decided to start an advice column and talked Ken into becoming the paper ' s Agony Uncle on a trial basis . They developed a close professional relationship , with Ken trusting Pamela enough to leak her a confidential report from the council proving that figures showing that Youth Clubs weren ' t being used were fabricated , as an excuse to close them . Pamela kept her source ' s identity secret , but Ken told his bosses himself and was forced to take voluntary redundancy . In September , Pamela left the " Recorder " to run a newspaper in Nottingham and suggested that Ken see the free sheet ' s owner , Bob Statham , about replacing her . Running the show on his own and hating it , Bob offered Ken the job of editor as long as he bought into the paper . Eager for a new challenge , Ken bought a 40 % share , spending all of his redundancy and his and Deirdre ' s savings to do so . Statham / Barlow partnership . Ken started work immediately , working alongside ambitious secretary Sally Waterman . Bob Statham was rarely at the office , appearing only when when he had a clash with Ken . The first time this occurred was soon after Ken ' s arrival ; having been waiting for a chance to get back at Mike Baldwin over his affair with Deirdre , Ken wrote a piece attacking Mike ' s Graffiti Club . Unaware of this , Mike had asked to take out more full - page advertisements , which Ken intended to turn down until Statham laid into him and told him to write a glowing article on the club , reminding him they were dependent on income from advertisers . Ken wrote a deliberately underwhelming piece which Statham also took issue with , forcing him to rewrite it , praising Mike ' s public spirit , calling him " The Debonair Dynamo of Denim " . Ken realised that he couldn ' t use the paper for his personal crusades , and played it safer in future . In January 1984 , Sally interviewed Stan and Hilda Ogden when they made a compensation claim against the council when Stan stubbed his toe on a loose paving stone . Sally wanted to become a journalist and started writing articles for the paper , with Ken ' s support . Sally left the paper in February 1985 when she was offered a job writing for the " Gazette " . She and Ken parted on bad terms as Sally had got the position by giving the " Gazette " the story of Mavis Riley winning a second honeymoon with Modern Bride magazine for describing a fictitious first honeymoon , technically fulfilling her promise to Mavis that she wouldn ' t publish it in the " Recorder " but representing a breach of trust . Sally ' s replacement , Janet Bamford , worked part - time and was content with secretarial duties . Ken ' s daughter Susan Barlow also came to work for the paper in November 1985 and left when she married Mike Baldwin . In October 1986 , due to a printing error , 43 readers won the " Recorder " ' s bingo prize of a trip for two up the Rhine . Ken held a raffle to determine the winner , with councillor Alf Roberts pulling out the winning card . Bob Statham had cause to intervene in the running of the paper again in March 1987 when Alf complained to him about Ken using the " Recorder " to further his political career . Standing against Alf in the local council elections , Ken printed a load of letters slamming Alf on the letters page and cut Alf ' s rebuttal to a minimum . Ken refused to back down , but when a councillor withdrew their advertising from the paper , Statham came down on Ken and forced him to choose between his job and his campaign . After Ken dropped out of the election , Deirdre stood as an independent and beat Alf . Clarion Group buyout . In February 1988 , Statham told Ken he wanted out of the paper and offered his share for £30 , 000 . Ken planned to buy using his £10 , 000 savings and raising the rest by mortgaging 1 Coronation Street , but he was beaten to the punch by the Clarion Group , a newspaper corporation owned by tycoon Nick Cavanagh , who offered Statham £25 , 000 and closed the deal . Cavanagh also offered to buy Ken ' s share , but Ken opted to remain with the paper and give the new arrangement a try . Ken continued to manage the " Recorder " on a daily basis , although at Nick ' s insistence , the paper was moved into the Clarion Group ' s headquarters at Neptune House , Janet Bamford was fired as she had no desire to work full - time , and Nick ' s daughter Fiona was hired as Ken ' s assistant . With the " Recorder " now under the Clarion banner , Ken was given a company car with the company logo emblazoned on the side . Ken ' s initial fear was that Nick Cavanagh would choose wall - to - wall advertisements and horoscopes over editorials , and that he ' d put Fiona with him as a plant , but Fiona impressed him with her genuine desire to be a good journalist , even he had to adapt to her underhanded methods of getting advertisers onboard , such as lying to a shopkeeper about a new retailer opening in competition with her , and pretending to be a customer and telling them she saw their advert in the " Recorder " . In June , Ken discovered that the Clarion Group was in financial trouble and Nick had disappeared . To settle his considerable debts , Nick had found a buyer for the group , and left in a panic when the deal fell through . In his absence , the receivers were called in , and the Clarion Group ' s headquarters were closed off . Ken ' s hopes were raised when Bob Statham informed him that Cavanagh had never paid for his share of the " Recorder " . The men saw the receivers and established that the paper was still theirs , but due to the office being locked up , they risked failing to get that week ' s paper out and losing their advertising . With Fiona ' s help , Ken broke into the office to get the paste - ups , saving the " Recorder " . Afterwards , Ken was able to knock Statham down to £20 , 000 for his share , suggesting that if he didn ' t accept it he could always find another Clarion Group . After buying out Statham , Ken rented premises on Curzon Street and moved the " Recorder " there . The " Recorder " ' s ruin . In 1989 , the " Gazette " started a free sheet . The damage to the " Recorder " was immediate , as there wasn ' t enough advertising in Weatherfield for two successful papers and , as the town ' s leading local daily , the " Gazette " had more money behind it and could run at a loss while it drummed up advertising . Early victories over the " Recorder " ' s rival gave Ken confidence , but he was eager for an edge and in June he found it when council secretary Wendy Crozier , tired of the secrecy at the Town Hall , offered to leak him confidential plans which she felt were in the public ' s interest . The paper ' s first whistleblower article regarded the closure of a day nursery , and a further report concerned the possible usage of the Community Centre as a hostel for homeless youths . A witch - hunt ensued at the Town Hall , with Deirdre Barlow generally assumed to be Ken ' s mole . Ken felt that the hostel article vindicated her , as she ' d been asked to leave the meeting where it was discussed due to her colleagues ' lack of faith in her . Eventually , Ken told Deirdre the identity of his mole , believing that she wouldn ' t betray him by telling her bosses . However , when Ken broke his promise to her not to see Wendy again , Deirdre told council chief executive Peter Reynolds the truth , causing Wendy to lose her job for gross misconduct . Feeling responsible , Ken immediately offered Wendy a job with the " Recorder " . In October , Ken started an affair with Wendy . To avoid the possibility of Deirdre walking in on them , Wendy decided to leave the " Recorder " . For Ken , whose heart had gone out of the battle against the " Gazette " free sheet , this allowed him to carry on his affair with Wendy while telling Deirdre he was working long hours at the office . In doing so , the paper went to ruin . Deirdre eventually confronted Ken about him and Wendy , having figured it out after piecing together several clues , one of which was advertiser Maurice Jones complaining to her that Ken was never at the office and passing on a rumour that the paper was sinking . Once the affair was out in the open , Deirdre threw Ken out of No . 1 and he went to live with Wendy . As 1990 began , Wendy returned to work for the " Recorder " to help a reinvigorated Ken get the paper back on track . The couple celebrated when Wendy secured a huge advertising deal with the council from under the " Gazette " ' s nose , but at this point Deirdre began hassling Ken and Wendy over the " Recorder " , claiming half of it was hers and she wanted Ken to buy her out . When Ted Lucas , editor of the " Gazette " , offered to buy the paper , Ken refused , but on his solicitor Rod Fielding ' s advice , he changed his mind and accepted , explaining to Wendy that by paying Deirdre off , he could avoid a messy separation and it was better to sell to the " Gazette " while the " Recorder " was still worth something . Thereafter , the " Recorder " was absorbed by the " Gazette " and amalgamated with its free sheet . List of appearances . Original premises : 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 Curzon Street premises : 1989 1990