The Mercury News (formerly San Jose Mercury News; often locally known as The Merc) is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidiary of Media News Group which in turn is controlled by Alden Global Capital, a vulture fund. As of March 2013^[update], it was the fifth largest daily newspaper in the United States, with a daily circulation of 611,194. In 2018, the paper had a circulation of 324,500 daily and 415,200 on Sundays. The Bay Area News Group no longer reports circulation, but rather "readership". As of 2021^[update], readership of 312,700 adults daily was reported.

First published in 1851, the Mercury News is the last remaining English-language daily newspaper covering the Santa Clara Valley in Northern California. It became the Mercury News in 1983 after a series of mergers. During much of the 20th century, it was owned by Knight Ridder. Because of its location in Silicon Valley, the Mercury News has covered many of the key events in the history of information technology and computing, and was a pioneer in delivering news online. It was the first American newspaper to publish in three languages (English, Spanish, and Vietnamese).

The paper's name derives from the San Jose Mercury and San Jose News, two daily newspapers that merged to form the Mercury News.

The San Jose Mercury's name was a play on words. The word "mercury" was often found in newspaper titles, but here it also alluded to the importance of the mercury industry during the California Gold Rush (1848-55) when the paper was first created (1851). At the time, the nearby New Almaden mine (now Almaden Quicksilver County Park) was North America's largest producer of mercury, which was needed for hydraulic gold mining. In addition, Mercury is the Roman messenger god as well as the god of commerce and thieves—he is known for his swiftness—so the name Mercury is commonly used for newspapers without the quicksilver association.

The paper's local coverage and circulation is concentrated in Santa Clara County and San Mateo County. With the Mercury News, East Bay Times, Marin Independent Journal, and Silicon Valley Community Newspapers, the Bay Area News Group covers much of the San Francisco Bay Area with the notable exception of San Francisco itself.

The Mercury News's predecessor, the Weekly Visitor, began as a Whig paper in the early 1850s but quickly switched its affiliation to the Democratic Party. The paper remained a conservative voice through the mid 20th century, when it supported pro-growth city leaders and pursued a staunchly pro-growth, anti-union agenda. It became considerably more moderate in the 1970s, reflecting new ownership and changes to the local political landscape. It endorsed John B. Anderson for president in 1980 and endorsed Democratic presidential candidates in every election from 1992 through 2016.

The newspaper now known as the Mercury News began in 1851 or 1852. California legislators had just moved the state capital from San Jose to Vallejo, leading to the failure of San Jose's first two newspapers, the Argus and State Journal. A group of three businessmen led by John C. Emerson bought the papers' presses to found the San Jose Weekly Visitor. The Weekly Visitor began as a Whig paper but quickly switched its affiliation to the Democratic Party. It was renamed the Santa Clara Register in 1852. The following year, Francis B. Murdoch took over the paper, merging it into the San Jose Telegraph. W. A. Slocum assumed control of the Telegraph in 1860 and merged it with the San Jose Mercury or Weekly Mercury to become the Telegraph and Mercury. William N. Slocum soon dropped Telegraph from the name. By this point, the Mercury was one of two newspapers publishing in San Jose.

James Jerome Owen – a forty-niner and former Republican New York assemblyman – became the Mercury's publisher in the spring of 1861, later acquiring a controlling interest in the paper along with a partner, Benjamin H. Cottle. The paper published daily as the San Jose Daily Mercury for three months in the fall of 1861, then from August 1869 to April 1870 with the addition of J. J. Conmy as partner and again from March 11, 1872, after the purchase of the Daily Guide. In 1878, Owen formed the Mercury Printing and Publishing Company.