What factors contributed to the growth of UK newspapers in the Victorian era?
The first newspaper in Britain back dates to the 17th century published in 1665, overtime there has been a number of advancements and changes to newspapers not only in the UK, but worldwide too. These changes caused substantial growth in the newspaper industry. While focusing in the Victorian era, there are a set of factors which achieved a greater scale of newspapers being distributed. A few being, as explained in the book Periodicals and Publishers, ‘the reading public continued to increase, the result of a wide range of economic, technological and cultural factors’ (John Hinks, 2009, p. 178)
The 19th century was an important era for newspapers as there were many advancements and innovations. These did not only benefit the newspaper businesses, but the people too which will be demonstrated throughout this essay. The causes for the increase in the newspaper industry are endless however there are a few in particular which standout. One being the birth of the Alfred Harmsworth’s Daily Mail in 1896. Noted media historian Professor Conboy said that ‘it would be no exaggeration to say that modern journalism began in 1896, on the 4th May to be precise.’ (Conboy, 2011, p. 8) The Daily Mail became very popular almost instantly and generated mass circulation to a great deal that ‘by 1900 it was selling in excess of a million copies per day’ (Conboy, 2011, p. 8). Thus, the founding of the Daily Mirror was a popular source for the people specifically in London and Manchester, two of the biggest cities in Britain. ‘Alfred’s sure popular touch – he introduced sensational headlines, illustrations and a crisper journalistic style’ (Temple, 2008, p. 28) This quote suggests that Alfred brought dynamics to the industry in the sense his newspaper, compared to its competition, was fun to read providing his paper with a unique selling point. Due to this, it could be argued he modernized journalism in the way he adapted his ideas which made sure that sales boomed.
The Victorian era was a prominent time in history for bringing many technological changes such as printing, transport and communication advancements. There were many innovative ideas introduced such as the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. ‘Technical changes increased the potential for mass communication’ (Williams, 1998, p. 28) In other words, this states that new technology allowed news to travel faster as it was a quicker way to communicate with people worldwide and it made it easier for people to access news in a more simple manner. Printing machines evolved in the sense that they were more powerful, enabling them to produce copies in large numbers quickly. ‘New methods of casting printing, typewriters to type out the material, the quick sending of news by telephone’ (Wilkinson, 1970, p. 43) These were creations which facilitated for the printing and publishing of news in a much more efficient and speedier way. All these factors helped lead to an increase in supply of newspapers and efficiency within newspaper companies allowing them to meet the demand that they face.
In the book Making the News, Paschal Preston discusses how life went from an industrial to a network society. In other words, this means how over a stretch, society went from functioning by the use of technology to create mass production to slowly progressing to a more digital time. Conveying how the ascent of capitalist industrialisation brought a new change to the distribution of news in comparison to the pre-modern age. Capitalist industrialism had a profound affect in the news industry as it is explained that ‘the news media continue to expand their roles throughout the successive long-wave periods.’ (Preston, 2009, p. 29) Technology also played a massive role in the Industrial Revolution with one of the factors being ‘The Age of Steam.’ During this time the production of machines became faster, bigger and powerful. Over approximately 100,000 steam engines were running throughout Britain by 1870. (Barrow, 2013) ‘Railways comprised the single most significant technical innovation and symbol, but the 1840’s also witnessed the invention of the electrical telegraph’ (Preston, 2009, p. 29) So, this shows that trains were one of the, if not main, transport during this period and even to do this day we still do rely on them. Thus, people would tend to read the newspaper to keep themselves occupied on the long journeys causing an increase in readership.
The idea of class consciousness is something which arose during this period which played a significant role in the rise of newspapers. ‘Emergence of ‘class consciousness’, was particularly important in shaping the development of mass communication. The print media played a central role to giving a ‘voice’ to the newly emerging classes.’ (Williams, 1998, p. 29) This suggests that the content of newspapers was expanding as there were more topics targeted for different audiences in terms of class. The idea of etymology was introduced which discusses ‘A broader cultural appeal was grafted onto these efficiencies of distribution’ (Conboy, 2011, p. 18), elucidating that the newspaper industry was able to supply for different classes including the lower classes for a price that they could afford and were transcribed in a style they could grasp. So, there was more choice available purely based on the fact that ‘news became an essential part of everyday life’ (Rubery, 2009, p. 3).
Many laws were introduced in the Victorian Era which to some extent, reduced the division between classes. One law being that education became compulsory, as stated in News and Newspapers ‘The 1870 Education Act established universal elementary education. By 1890 it was compulsory and free’ (Wilkinson, 1970, p. 42) Meaning, that the working class as well as the higher class found it accessible to gain an insight of news due to obtaining the necessary skills to be able to read. Consequently, there was an increase in readership. ‘The abolition of taxes on newspapers in 1855 had begun to release the full force of competition into newspaper production’ (Conboy, 2011, p. 8) The abolishment of taxes on periodicals also played a part in the expansion of the press. It meant that a vaster percentage of society could afford the newspaper which again reinforces the increase in readership. An example of how this helped the news industry was that ‘the most successful launch of the period, the Daily Telegraph, in the very same year as the taxes were lifted.’ (Conboy, 2011, p. 8)
There was a boost in the economy which provided more jobs for people as there was an increase in demand for newspapers. ‘After the launch of the daily mail in 1896, the habit of newspaper reading gradually spread, by the early 1950s around 85 percent of the population saw a paper every day and the market was effectively saturated’ (Conboy, 2015, p. 1) The dawn of the Daily Mail was significant to the rise of newspapers as over the years it was constantly growing. This shows that the newspaper industry had fierce competition therefore businesses would produce large capacities of newspapers in order to maximize profits. ‘4000 newspaper companies were founded in the second half of the nineteenth century’ (Williams, 2010, p. 139) This just shows in itself the popularity of newspapers and reinforces the competition since many companies came about to be the top newspaper seller.
As the distribution of newspapers had risen this allowed the price to drop, as a result of this more were willing to purchase them as they were easily accessible and cheaper. So, this became a cycle in which newspapers were one of the main sources of obtaining information hence the boom in newspapers during this era. Due to this, there was a rise in costs for production which the firms were willing and able to take on as a result of the high industry profits. ‘Rising costs, particularly in relation to new printing technology, distribution and the larger staff needed to compile bigger newspapers’ (Williams, 2010, p. 139) Subsequently, this suggests that the economy was at a good stage, as the rise of production for newspapers meant there were more jobs to be filled in order for the distribution and production to be carried out effectively.
It is truly phenomenal how the newspaper has evolved overtime. As we can see, there is considerable discussion regarding the way in which the media and newspaper has evolved in Britain. However, I believe the explanations by Professor Conboy are well demonstrated to show the growth of the newspaper industry. My reasoning for this is purely based on the fact that throughout the books I have read, he explores the history of newspaper in a clear, concise and chronological manner. The changes from the early seventeenth century up until today are dramatic and have created a tendency for society to be up to date with the news.
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