newspaper: England

In England in the 17th cent., journalism consisted chiefly of newsletters printed principally by Thomas Archer (1554–1630?), Nathaniel Butter (d. 1664), and Nicholas Bourne (fl. 1622). The London Gazette, founded (1665) in Oxford, is still published as a court journal. The first daily paper in England was the Daily Courant (1702). Thereafter many journals of opinion set a high standard of literary achievement in journalism—the Review (1704–13) of Daniel Defoe; the Examiner (1710–11) edited by Jonathan Swift; and the high society periodicals, Tatler (1709–11) and the Spectator (1711–12) of Joseph Addison and Richard Steele. The first English periodical essay was published in the Tatler.

John Wilkes, the 18th-century outspoken journalist, challenged Parliament's efforts to punish the press for the reporting of Parliamentary debates. After Wilkes's successful battle for greater freedom of the press, British newspapers began to reach the masses in the 19th cent. Of several present-day London papers born in the 18th cent., The Times, founded in 1785 by John Walter, the Manchester Guardian, now printed in London, and the Financial Times are internationally known. Other prominent London newspapers include the Independent, the Daily Telegraph, and the Daily Mail.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Consolidation of Newspaper Publishing and Other Developments
• The United States
• Asia
• The Continent
• England
• Early Newspapers
• Bibliography

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