Newspapers

Newspapers are dated back to Roman Times where the Acta Diurna started around 59 B.C. This was a daily handwritten news report posted in a specified public place under the orders of Emperor Julius Caesar (100–44 B.C.) It was used to keep small communities informed with what was happening locally.

In the 1900’s there were two major kinds of periodical news publications: the handwritten news sheet and single item news publications. On 7th November 1665, The London Gazette began publication. This paper is still around today and is used to update people with what is going on in court. This newspaper decisively changed the look of English news printing using the format of two columns, a clear title, and a clear date.

Newspapers began to emerge due to technological infrastructure developments as the roads improved allowing there to be links between towns. In 1637 the weekly post began in main towns. New ideas were able to come into force such as religious and political ideas that were communicated in print and became fairly popular. The newspapers (specifically stamped) targeted a male upper class audience as these were the people with the money. It was predominantly male as in the 1700s only 40% of females could read compared to 60% of males. Radical unstamped papers catered for the industrial working class up to 1836 as these were cheaper due to the low production costs and illegal street sellers.

The state controlled the printers by issuing licenses to print, advertising tax and stamp duty. Prime minister Walpole spent £50,000 on bribing journalists from 1783-1793 including £600 to the Morning Herald and £300 to The Times. This meant that the state also controlled what was being put into the papers (Marcuse1923) influencing public opinions with their own beliefs.

During the half century ‘taxes on knowledge’ meant that many radical newspapers closed down. Militant journalism survived (Kittler) in the form of small circulation national periodicals and struggling local weeklies. This decline occurred during the period of rapid press expansion when a new generation of right- wing national newspapers came into being. The working class gained the vote in 1867 and trade unions were seeking to improve wages and working conditions. It was claimed in 1843 when the News of the world started that some poor houses saw inmates having to wear prison clothes. Eventually in 1868 the usual hours worked in many industries fell from sixty hours a week to fifty-four hours and average wages rose by around 84%.

Due to the stamp duty being abolished (1836) along with the advertising tax in 1853 the mainstream newspapers attracted an advertising revenue. Some advertisers made a clear distinction between skilled and poor working class, ‘The advertisement duty entirely prevents a certain class of advertisements from appearing’ (Cassell 1853). This was due to exclusion from the early market research studies in the 1920s as they simply weren’t bothered about. In 1900 there was an estimated 2072 local weekly papers catering for either mass, middle-market audiences or small elite audiences.

Along with the Daily Mail being launched in 1896 (Lord Northcliffe) came the tabloidization of newspapers as they concentrated on entertainment rather than political analysis. These papers secured a larger audience as they interested all classes. According to Virginia Berridge tabloidization is to blame for the decline of ‘committed journalism’. Due to the publishing costs rising the ownership and control of the popular press changed from the working class to wealthy businessmen.

From 1945 onwards the newspaper circulation declined as broadcasting and entertainment industries began to grow. In 1987 the structure of the news industry changed as there was emphasis upon profit and commodification of news. In todays society the circulation of newspapers remains at around 2,751,219 with The Sun being the most popular.

Most newspapers today still have focus on some form of entertainment depending on its target audience. For instance The Guardian focuses on arts, theatre and music whereas papers like The Sun concentrate on television, celebrities and football. In the 20^th century there are a range of newspapers to choose from that cater for both genders and class. The range of newspapers forced to compete with one another may also contribute to their decline.

As the news converges online the circulation of newspapers continue to decline. People in today’s society are so media literate that we use the internet and social network sites almost everyday. Therefore they are the quickest and cheapest way to access the news with 9.7m people using the BBC News site and apps a week (Herrmann 2012).