preface
The development of the British press began with the publication of pamphlets in the 16th century, and has gone through more than four hundred years of history, in this long historical process, the newspaper has experienced multiple stages of development from germination to formation to transformation into a modern industry, until the rise of the Internet in recent decades decline. In this development process, the development of the Industrial Revolution was an important period for the transformation of newspapers and periodicals and eventually the formation of modern industries, during which British society underwent a huge transformation, the development of industrialization promoted urbanization, and politics gradually became democratic.
In this context, the British press underwent a transformation, and at the same time, the British political change atmosphere was used during this period, and the relationship between the press and politics also underwent a very complex change, and it was also during this period that the press and public opinion were closely linked with political movements.
History of the British press
The British publishing industry has a history of more than 500 years since the first printing press was introduced to the UK, and the budding of newspaper publishing has a history of more than 400 years. In this process, the development of British newspapers and periodicals experienced germination to development, transformed during the Industrial Revolution, and only developed into a modern newspaper industry in the 20th century.
In 1450, Johannes Gutenberg invented the first printing press, and in 1476 William Caxton introduced the printing process to England. In 1500, Maxton's apprentice Winkender Ward moved out of the Westminster printing house to open a printing shop in Shoe Alley near Grabb Street, and around the same time Richard Pinson founded his own publishing and printing business next to the nearby St. Dunstan Church. In the 16th century, the number of English printers increased steadily, according to statistics, by 1558 there were already 13 printers in England, in 1563 it increased to 34, and by the end of the 16th century there were already 97.
Initially, most of these printed materials that appeared during the Reformation were religious-related subjects, as well as some practical manuals and popular literature, and only then did news-related printed pamphlets appear, which were the early forms of newspapers and periodicals before the emergence of new news carriers in the form of newspapers and periodicals. With the development of the Reformation, the anti-feudal and anti-religious elements in printed materials increased day by day, causing unease among the feudal rulers.
The feudal dynasty successively introduced measures to control printing and publishing, and in 1538, a royal charter system was formally established, stipulating that publications without permission were not allowed to be published. In 1557, Queen Mary ordered the establishment of the Royal Chartered Publishing Company, where only printers chartered by the Queen could become members of the company, and only company members and other franchisors could engage in printing and publishing. In 1570, Queen Elizabeth made the Senate Judiciary Committee independent as the Royal Court of Publications, or "Star Court", which regulates the publishing and printing industry. In 1586, the Queen issued the Publication Court Order, also known as the Star Court Order, which severely restricted freedom of the press.
Changes in organizational structure and practitioners
From the 17th century to the beginning of the 18th century, the news and publishing industry in its embryonic and development period was restricted by society and government in many aspects, the industry positioning was not clear, the organizational structure was simple, and the number of employees was small. In terms of organization, many of the owners of publications at the time wore multiple roles, being both managers and editors-in-chief, and often the main contributors to the publications. Like Daniel Defoe, the father of the British newspaper industry, who founded the Review, not only the owner and manager of the publication, most of the content of the publication is directly written by himself; Steele and Addison founded The Chatter and The Spectator, and were hands-on about the operation and writing of the publication.
In short, the founders of the newspapers at this time were responsible for everything, in addition to a number of long-term or short-term hired editors and some typesetting and printing workers. In terms of practitioners, because the career orientation is not clear, there are no special staff, not only the number is small, but also some down-and-out literati known as "Grabb Street literati", such as John Denton,
Nedward, Tom Brown, and some low-level literati groups such as Samuel Powys and Richard Savage described in some works are forced to engage in this industry because of their livelihoods, and some famous literati have also become news and publication editors, such as Samuel Johnson, who has been employed by Gentleman's Magazine for a long time and has established a long-term cooperative relationship with his owner, Edward Cave, such as Oliver Goldsmith, Charlotte Lennox Thomas de Quincy, Samuel M. More famous literati such as Kolerizinji served as editors and even founded publications.
Formal content changes
Early press publications appeared in the form of pamphlets, and these pamphlets carrying news content were early newspapers and periodicals, known as "news books". In 1589, the publisher Wolfel published a pamphlet 4 inches long and 2 inches wide, and the Weekly News Continuation of 1622, 20 pages each, were the earliest news books, and the publications of the public opinion war between the royalists and the parliamentary parties during the English Civil War appeared in the form of pamphlets. It was not until 1660, after the restoration of Charles II, that the first true newspaper appeared, which was printed on both sides on a single page and two columns, initially with the layout style of a modern newspaper.
In 1679, single-page folios appeared in large numbers, and with the promulgation of stamp duties in 1712 and 1725, newspaper owners used tax rules to greatly expand the layout of publications without changing the number of newspaper pages, so that newspapers with 4 pages were only counted as half a sheet to calculate tax. In terms of publishing form, there were no major changes, but under the stimulation of stamp duty, the early pamphlet form was replaced by an increasingly simplified single-page large-page format to reduce the burden of stamp duty, and gradually became the current newspaper board format.
In terms of content, because the London newspaper publishing industry originated from some pamphlets with political current affairs content on Grubb Street, the content of the early newspaper news publishing industry was almost purely based on political content, and the main publications such as the London Gazette, the Political Courier, the Palace Courier, The Investigator, etc., are pamphlets on political themes. In the 18th century, the general environment of party politics made newspapers and periodicals widely used for political activities, with the ruling party used to promote political ideas and the opposition party used it to oppose propaganda.
During this period, the public paid little attention to content that was not about politics, and some major publications such as "The Gossip", "The Spectator", "The Review", "Daily News", "Daily Gazette", and later "The Craftsman", "Air Mail", "Daily Mail", etc. were mainly political content. (4) Newspapers and periodicals with non-political themes rarely receive attention.
At the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, driven by the industrial revolution, with the improvement of economic level, the level of education of the public has also been continuously improved, and the demand for information has increased greatly. Originally, most of the political content newspapers and periodicals that were concerned by the upper strata of society were boring and expensive, and could not meet the needs of the middle and lower classes who began to read newspapers and periodicals with increasing and improving cultural quality, so newspapers and periodicals also made timely adjustments, and different forms and contents appeared more and more suitable for the taste of the public.
Increased influence
Due to the limited circulation of early publications, and limited by transportation and communication technology, they were often suppressed by the government and had a very limited influence. At the beginning of the 18th century, when Queen Anne's repeated restrictions on the press did not have the desired effect, Parliament finally passed the Stamp Act, which not only increased the government's revenue, but also achieved the purpose of controlling the press.
However, the Act poses a serious impediment to the development of newspapers at the economic level, and the objective ceiling of newspapers and periodicals is objectively high
The social class of the newspaper reading group was systemized, so that the influence of newspapers and periodicals in the 18th century was always relatively limited to the upper middle class, and for many lower classes, the influence of newspapers and periodicals was extremely small.
Before and after the Industrial Revolution, the development of newspapers and periodicals was closely related to the development of society, and under the impetus of social change, important social and economic developments in the UK undertook place, which not only provided a broad readership for newspapers and periodicals. Moreover, with strong technical support, newspapers and periodicals have made great development from the acquisition of information to the manufacture and distribution of publications, making the industry undergo profound changes from organizational form to publication content, and truly transform into an influential industry.
At the same time, with the development of newspapers and periodicals, its influence on society is also huge, providing strong public opinion support for many democratic movements in the 19th century, and playing a huge role in promoting the democratization of modern British society. The development of the British newspaper publishing industry before and after the Industrial Revolution is not only the development of an industry, but also an important manifestation of the transformation of British society, from the transformation of the newspaper publishing industry we can have a deeper understanding of the social transformation of Britain in the 19th century.
epilogue
In the context of predominantly political content, many newspapers and periodicals that can be famous for their reporting are also due to political events, such as the Times' coverage of the "Petloo Incident" and overseas wars, which caused great repercussions and even led to the fall of the government. The political influence brought about by the politicization tendency of the press is an important manifestation of the legal right of the press to become the fourth estate during the Industrial Revolution, and it is also an important embodiment of the democratization of British society during the transition period.
Before the press gained legal status, the government had been suppressing the press in various ways, and as an important means for the general public and the opposition to participate in supervising the government's political policies, the press did not play its role, but was suppressed and bought by the government, and became an important public opinion tool for the government to maintain its rule. The legalization of newspaper commentary politics and the increasing content of political content provide an important way for the public to supervise and even participate in politics, which directly promotes the democratization process of British politics