Journalism has changed significantly in the last 250 years along with changes in politics, cultural trends and society. When newspapers first started out they had small circulations and were generally only read by academics and the upper classes. This has changed as modern day newspapers have huge circulations in comparison as reported in the following quotation;
“the Express and the Mail, sold an average of 3,007,507 copies each day” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/sep/05/abcs.pressandpublishing 11/11/08). This represents a huge leap in circulation and shows how diversity of audiences has increased significantly with people from all classes and backgrounds able to find a newspaper that suits them.
Newspapers appeared following the invention of the printing press in the 15th century by Johann Gutenburg . In 1500 Wynkyn De Worde set up a printing press in Fleet Street. Fleet Street became a centre for Journalists, Editors and Proprietors until the 20th century when newspapers started to move to cheaper buildings away from the city centre;
“after the Second World War, the Telegraph and Express were the only major papers occupying premises on Fleet Street itself.” (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4091172.stm 9/11/08) The Telegraph and Express have now moved from Fleet Street to new offices. The Telegraph is now based on Buckingham Palace Road.
The first newspaper to be printed was The Oxford Gazette in 1665 which was created when the plague hit London .The aristocracy, led by King Charles II fled to the relative safety of Oxford. The Oxford Gazette had a very small readership (outside academics and clerics) and served the needs of the, “Crown and the Executive” (http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ GazettesHistory.aspx? GeoType =London 11/11/2008). It carried basic news stories. In peace time foreign correspondents were the British Embassies abroad and in war time the generals themselves provided reports on the fighting. Once the threat of the Black Death receded, the court moved back to London and the paper changed its name to the London Gazette which it remains today.
Newspapers increased their circulation with the spread of coffee houses throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. By 1739 there were 551 Coffee Houses in London where The London Gazette was read and discussed. The coffee houses were seen by Charles II as “places where the disaffected met, and spread scandalous reports concerning the conduct of His Majesty and his Ministers” The aristocracy by the late eighteenth century felt threatened by the French Revolution. Newspapers were seen as something dangerous, filled with scandal and sedition. One French visitor, the writer Abbe Prevost said it was; “where you have the right to read all the petitioners for and against the government" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffeehouse). Newspapers were censored by the press restriction act.
The first daily newspaper was published in 1702 and called the Daily Courant .It ran from 1702 to 1735. The Daily Comet started in 1735 and had a circulation of 800. There was a paper tax until 1861 once this was lifted it became a lot easier and cheaper for newspapers to be published. The audience for newspapers was still small as the majority of the country was illiterate and uneducated.
Newspapers and gazettes were seen as a way to get more liberal views heard. Newspapers which focused on gossip and scandal such as The Tatler which was founded in 1709 circulated around London’s coffee houses with the main aim of publishing the scandal and gossip that was heard around the coffee houses of the time. The Tatler also had a political preference towards the Whigs rather than the Tories. Modern newspapers display a political preference with papers such as The Guardian being more left wing and papers like The Times having a right wing point of view. This is reflected in the articles they publish and the influence and emphasis they place on certain stories. The Daily Mail (politically classed as a right wing paper) placed the Mohammed Al Fayed stories regarding alleged sexual relations with an underage girl as front page news. The Mail displays a clear agenda against Mohammed Al Fayed as the paper has a long standing feud with him since 1984. (http://www.guardianlies.com/Pre-DTI%20press/page13.html). This contrasts with The Guardian’s treatment of the story. The paper (which is believed to have left wing views) gave the Al Fayed story a less prominent place in its paper. As political climates change papers often change their political stance. The Sun switched (from Tory support) to back Tony Blair six weeks before the 1997 election with The Suns headline; “THE SUN BACKS BLAIR “.This banner headline is often credited with winning the Labour Party their landslide majority so can be viewed as very influential. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3654446.stm 9/11/08)The Tatler was one of the earliest papers to establish a political standpoint (on a small scale).
The Times was first published in 1785 as the Universal Daily Register by John Walters and adopted its current name in 1788. The Times was the first newspaper to employ proper War Correspondents. In 1807 Henry Crabb Robinson became their first dedicated correspondent;
“If William Howard Russell was the greatest war correspondent, Henry Crabb Robinson was the first.” (P22, We Thundered Out 200 years of The Times, Phillip Howard, Times Books London) Robinson was sent out to report back on The Napoleonic Wars. This was a big leap forward for reporting as reports were now received direct from the front line in France. The general public was increasingly interested in the Napoleonic Wars and the news reflected the public’s needs. This continued when one of the most famous British war correspondents William Howard Russell started reporting on the Crimean Wars in the 1850s.
Howard Russell started out as a young reporter and was sent to cover the English support of Russia by The Times editor John Delane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._H._Russell). The stories that he sent back to the UK were frank and vivid and opened the public’s eyes to the reality of warfare. This led to the government re-evaluating their treatment of troops. This is significant as it shows how the media can shape and influence public opinion. The power of newspapers and journalism was increasing leading to a change in government policy. The circulation of newspapers was increasing as the level of literate people grew higher. Now more people could read, the circulation of newspapers expanded as did the influence of journalism.
Newspapers were increasingly influenced by advertising after James Perry became the first man to make real money from advertisements in papers. Newspaper adverts started off as classified advertisements and throughout the 19th and 20th century advertising became the main source of profits for newspapers;
“Many Reporters will quietly and reluctantly admit that a newspaper would struggle without advertising revenue.” (p12, Newspaper Journalism A Practical Introduction, Susan Pape and Sue Featherstone, Sage Publications) This is reflected in modern journalism as the stories the paper reports must reflect the advertising demographic of the magazine or paper. As advertising becomes more important in newspapers it is increasing the editor’s job to make sure his or her stories suit the advertisers’ needs;
“commercial matters take up much of the editors time and they will be involved in meetings dealing with the business end of advertising” (P2, Newspaper Journalism A Practical Introduction, Susan Pape and Sue Featherstone) This has changed over the last 250 years previously journalists were primarily writing for their audience now they are writing for the advertisers as the main aim now is to increase profits.
The proprietors of newspapers have changed over the last 250 years. Many newspapers used to be owned independently and the editor was usually the proprietor and closely involved in what stories were printed at the time. Now you have monopoly ownership of newspapers which means people like Rupert Murdoch own a third of the newspaper markets with papers like The Sun and The Times. This means reporters are often told to report on certain stories which reflect the owner’s agenda. Rupert Murdoch and his company News International own a 35.5% share of the market. The only papers that are independent are The Guardian and The Observer who are owned by The Guardian Media Group. In theory this means that the only place you should be able to get unbiased news reporting is in The Guardian or Observer but they are widely regarded as having their own left wing/liberal agenda. An example of how this works is the recent story of the George Osborne/ Peter Mandelson/ Russian Oligarch scandal. Neither The Times nor The Sun mentioned that Rupert Murdoch was also on the yacht as he is their boss. The truth can be distorted depending on what paper you work for and who your boss is.
Journalism has changed dramatically over the last 250 years. The biggest changes have been the increased value of advertising in newspapers and the effects of monopoly ownership on newspapers. The increase in tabloid sales means that reporters have an economic incentive to report the sensational and the scandalous and news values may, therefore, be compromised for profit. The role of editor has also changed over the last 250 years as they have a stronger business role now than ever before and are a lot more involved in meetings than the writing aspect of the paper. Since the 1700s papers have had various political leanings and this continues today as all papers are known for having some sort of political stance. This means that the same story in different papers could come across as completely different. Over the last ten years the newspaper industry has had to deal with the growth in the internet and news websites .This has resulted in the decline in the circulation of print media and the advance of online journalism which means anyone can now be a reporter.
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