The history of British newspapers begins in the 18th century with the emergence of regular publications covering news and gossip. The relaxation of government censorship in the late 17th century led to a rise in publications, which in turn led to an increase in regulation throughout the 18th century. The Times began publication in 1785 and became the leading newspaper of the early 19th century, before the lifting of taxes on newspapers and technological innovations led to a boom in newspaper publishing in the late 19th century. Mass education and increasing affluence led to new papers such as the Daily Mail emerging at the end of the 19th century, aimed at lower middle-class readers.
In the early 20th century, the British press was dominated by a few wealthy press barons. Many papers published more popular stories, including sports and other features, in an attempt to boost circulation. In 1969 Rupert Murdoch bought and relaunched The Sun as a tabloid and soon added pictures of topless models on Page 3. Within a few years the Sun was the UK's most popular newspaper.
In the 1980s national newspapers began to move out of Fleet Street, the traditional home of the British national press since the 18th century. By the early 21st century newspaper circulation began to decline.
In the early 2010s many British newspapers were implicated in a major phone hacking scandal which led to the closure of the News of the World after 168 years of publication and the Leveson Inquiry into press standards.
17th century During the 17th century many kinds of news publications told both news and rumours, such as pamphlets, posters and ballads. Even when news periodicals emerged, many of these co-existed with them. A news periodical differs from these mainly because of its periodicity. The definition for 17th-century newsbooks and newspapers is that they are published at least once a week. Johann Carolus' Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien, published in Strassburg in 1605, is usually regarded as the first news periodical.World Association of Newspapers: "Newspapers: 400 Years Young!"
At the beginning of the 17th century the authorities in England strictly controlled the right to print. This probably explains why the first newspaper in the English language was printed in Rome by Joris Veseler around 1620. This followed the style established by Veseler's earlier Dutch paper Courante uyt Italien, Duytslandt, &c.
In 1622 Nathaniel Butter reportedly initiated the first news periodical published in England. It appeared under various titles including the Weekly News. When the English started printing their own papers in London, they reverted to the pamphlet format used by contemporary books. The publication of these newsbooks was suspended between 1632 and 1638 by order of the Star Chamber. After they resumed publication, the era of these newsbooks lasted until the publication of the Oxford Gazette in 1665.
Official control over printing relaxed greatly after the abolition of the Star Chamber in 1641. The English Civil War of 1642-1651 escalated the demand for news. News pamphlets or books reported the war, often supporting one side or the other. A number of publications arose after the Restoration of 1660, including The London Gazette (first published on 18 November 1665 as the Oxford Gazette), the first official journal of record and the newspaper of the Crown. Publication was controlled under the Licensing Act 1662, but the act's lapses from 1679 to 1685 and from 1695 onwards encouraged a number of new titles.
Mercurius Caledonius, founded in Edinburgh in 1660, was Scotland's first but short-lived newspaper. Only 12 editions were published during 1660 and 1661.
In English-language usage, the term "News Papers" dates from 1667, with the form "Newspapers" appearing from 1688.
18th century
There were twelve London newspapers and 24 provincial papers by the 1720s. The Daily Courant (11 March 1702–1703) was the first successful daily newspaper in London. In 1695 the Postboy had been started as a daily paper (actually the first in London), but only four numbers appeared. The Public Advertiser was started by Henry Woodfall in the 18th century.
The first English journalist to achieve national importance was Daniel Defoe. On 19 February 1704, whilst still in Newgate Prison for a political offence, he began his weekly, The Review, which was eventually printed three times a week and was a forerunner of The Tatler (started by Richard Steele in 1709) and The Spectator (started by Steele and Joseph Addison in 1711). Defoe's Review came to an end in 1713. Between 1716 and 1720 he published a monthly newspaper with old style title, Mercurius Politicus. The Examiner started in 1710 as the chief Conservative political mouthpiece, which enjoyed as its most influential contributor, Jonathan Swift. Swift had control of the journal for 33 issues between November 1710 and June 1711, but once he became dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, he gave up regular journalistic work.
In 1702 Edward Lloyd, the virtual founder of the famous "Lloyd's" of commerce, started a thrice a week newspaper, Lloyd's News, which had but a brief existence in its initial form, but was the precursor of the modern Lloyd's List. The 76th issue of the original paper contained a paragraph mentioning the House of Lords, for which the publisher was told he would have to pay a fine. He preferred to discontinue his publication instead. In 1726 he in part revived it, under the title of Lloyd's List, published at first weekly, it would later become a daily.
The Edinburgh Courant was published out of Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland. Its first issue was dated 14-19 Feb 1705 and was sold for a penny. It was one of the country's first regional papers, second only to the Norwich Post (1701). The paper was produced twice weekly for five years, then continued as the Scots Courant until April 1720. Later that same year, the Edinburgh Evening Courant began publication, and it survived until the Evening News came into existence in 1873.
The increasing popularity and influence of newspapers was problematic to the government of the day. The first bill in parliament advocating a tax on newspapers was proposed in 1711. The duty eventually imposed in 1712 was a halfpenny on papers of half a sheet or less and a penny on newspapers that ranged from half a sheet to a single sheet in size. Jonathan Swift expressed in his Journal to Stella on 7 August 1712, doubt in the ability of The Spectator to hold out against the tax. This doubt was proved justified in December 1712 by its discontinuance. However, some of the existing journals continued production and their numbers soon increased. Part of this increase was attributed to corruption and political connections of its owners. Later, toward the middle of the same century, the provisions and the penalties of the Stamp Act were made more stringent, yet the number of newspapers continued to rise. In 1753 the total number of copies of newspapers sold yearly in Britain amounted to 7,411,757. In 1760 it had risen to 9,464,790 and in 1767 to 11,300,980. In 1776 the number of newspapers published in London alone had increased to 53.
The News Letter is one of Northern Ireland's main daily newspapers, published Monday to Saturday. It is the oldest English-language general daily newspaper still in publication in the world, having first been printed in 1737.Research guide: Irish news & newspapers , Boston College, 13 December 2004, accessed 25 September 2006Ruth Johnston, Your place and mine: Belfast News Letter, BBC, accessed 25 September 2006 Originally published three times weekly, it became daily in 1855.
The 18th century saw the gradual development of the purely political journal side by side with those papers which were primarily devoted to news, domestic and foreign, and commerce. It was left to Steele and Addison to develop the social side of journalism in their respective papers. In 1761 the North Briton came out and it was largely a result of its publisher, John Wilkes, and his campaign for increased freedom of the press that, in 1772 the right to publish parliamentary reports was established.
The Observer, first published on 4 December 1791, was the world's first Sunday newspaper.
19th century
According to Andrew Marr, four major transitions in the Victorian era created modern British journalism. The stamp tax on every paper sold was removed, enabling newspapers to become profitable by selling advertising. Secondly. new industrial technology enabled news to flow in over telegraph wires, and new highspeed presses did overnight printing of hundreds of thousands of copies for distribution by the new railway system to the entire nation. Next the educational system was enlarged from a small elite so that most people could now read a newspaper and study the ads. And finally Victorians developed mass democracy that made public opinion relevant to the formation of public policy. Andrew Marr, My Trade: A Short History of British Journalism (2004) pp.13–37. online
By the early 19th century, there were 52 London papers and over 100 other titles. As stamp, paper and other duties were progressively reduced from the 1830s onwards (all duties on newspapers were gone by 1855) there was a massive growth in overall circulation as major events and improved communications developed the public's need for information. The Daily Universal Register began life in 1785 and was later to become known as The Times from 1788. This was the most significant newspaper of the first half of the 19th century, but from around 1860 there were a number of more strongly competitive titles, each differentiated by its political biases and interests. George Boyce et al., Newspaper History from the 17th century to the Present Day (Constable,1978). pp.98-116, 226-294.
Taxes removed In 1802 and 1815 the tax on newspapers was increased to three pence and then four pence. Unable or unwilling to pay this fee, between 1831 and 1835 hundreds of untaxed newspapers made their appearance. The political tone of most of them was fiercely revolutionary. Their publishers were prosecuted but this failed to discourage untaxed newspapers. It was chiefly Milner Gibson and Richard Cobden who advocated the case in parliament to first reduce in 1836 and, in 1855, totally repeal the tax on newspapers. The development of the press was greatly assisted by the gradual abolition of the taxes on periodicals as well as by the introduction of a cheap postal system. Both of these developments made the newspaper more affordable to a greater percentage of the population. The burden of the newspaper tax on publishers was heavy, resulting in 29,400,000 tax stamps being issued in 1820. In 1828 the proprietor of The Times had to pay the state more than £68,000 in taxes. Directories
A number of press directories listing newspapers and periodicals were published in the 19th century, including Mitchell's Press Directories, May's handbooks and guides, Deacon's Newspaper Handbook and the Handy Newspaper List. Major papers The Courier is a newspaper published by D. C. Thomson & Co. in Dundee, Scotland. It had five daily editions for Dundee, Fife, Perth and Angus. It was established in 1801 as the Dundee Courier & Argus. Like most papers the entire front page was devoted to classified advertisements; The Courier was unusual in maintaining this format until 1992, before adopting the headline-news format. David Hutchison, "The history of the press." in The media in Scotland (2008): 55-70.
Seren Gomer was a Welsh language periodical founded in 1814 by the clergyman and writer Joseph Harris (Gomer), the first Welsh-language newspaper.