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Newspapers in the UK

UK Newspapers

Newspapers and Their Decline

Britain can trace the birth of its press back to about 300 years ago, to the time of William of Orange. Berrow’s Worcester Journal, which began in 1690 and which was regularly published after 1709 is still believed to be the oldest surviving newspaper in all of England.

The very first English printing press was released in 1476 and in the early 16th century, newspapers were seen in Britain. The papers weren’t popular instantly, it took sometime. From 1640 till the restoration, approximately 30,000 newsletters and newspapers were born. Many of these papers are safely stored in the British Museum. With the reign of Queen Anne in 1702 came the birth of the first regular daily English newspaper “The Daily Courant”.

By the 1720s there were approximately twelve newspapers in London and about 24 provincial papers. In the 18th century Henry Woodfall started “The Public Advertiser”. During the 19th century London was filled with over 52 newspapers and over 100 titles. After the 1830s the need for newspapers grew rapidly. people craved for more information.

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In 1785 “The Daily Register” began and in 1788 it came to be known as “The Times”. This newspaper was instantly a big hit and was considered the most significant especially for the first half of the 19th century.

But soon after in the 1860s many other newspapers proved to be great competition for this newspaper. The newspaper industry kept steadily growing through the years in the UK. During “the golden age” that is from 1860-1910, there were many advances in writing, press technology etc. The twentieth century continued to see the rise in newspapers all over the UK. There are very many newspapers that exist even today that date back to the early 1700s.

Now the UK sports several national newspapers and it has taken over the internet world as well. There are many web forums that sport daily news
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