Arts and Media: British Newspapers

By Michelle Styles

The history of the newspaper is really tied into the development of the printing press. Although various proclamations and tablets announcing the news were in use during Roman times, the news sheet did not get its start until cheap printing became available. The first newspapers as such were developed in the 16th century--Requests of the Devonshyre and Cornyshe Rebelles is recognised at the first newspaper. The first titled newspaper--The Courant was published in 1621. However, freedom of the press was something that had to be fought for, rather than a right easily granted.

Knowing the power of the emerging press, Cromwell suppressed all the newspapers in 1649 on the eve of Charles I's execution. And it was not until after the reign of Charles II that newspapers began to be a force again.

Under King William, Berrow's Worchester Journal started in 1690. It is still published today.

It took until the start of Queen Anne's reign in 1702 for a regular daily journal to be published in London--The Daily Courant--but the paper did not have many of the features that we would take for granted today. For example sport only started being reported around 1820.

A number of surviving newspapers started in the early 18th century such as the Belfast News Letter which is the oldest surviving daily newspaper. However, freedom of the press was something that took longer to establish. In 1738 the right to report on parliament was suppressed and in 1763 John Wilkes was prosecuted for seditious libel for openly reporting about parliamentary proceedings. The right to report on parliament was regained in 1771. But the right to a free press was not fully there and when you look at the British newspaper history, you can see why Freedom of the Press was such an important addition to the Constitution of the United States.

The first publisher of The Times, John Walter went to jail in 1083 for publishing things that the king did not like about the Duke of Cumberland as well as foreign news. (The Times is known as The Times, not the London Times or The Times of London because it was the first paper to use the name and it has lent its name to other papers. The font Times New Roman is also named after the paper.) The editor of the Examiner Leigh Hunt went to jail in 1813 for daring to criticise the Prince Regent.

With the Libel Act in 1835, truth is allowed for the first time to be used as a defence in such cases and press freedom in Britain was fairly secure. With such freedom came 'new journalism' in the 1880s which allowed for interviews and gossip columns.

However, even today, journalists do have to fight battles--to protect sources and to have the right investigate stories.

Michelle Styles is an avid reader of newspapers and is particularly grateful that newspapers such as The Times have kept their archives. Her latest UK release is COMPROMISING MISS MILTON. Her latest US release is A NOBLE CAPTIVE.

July 4th - Independence Day

On July 4, 1776, the US declared independence from Great Britain by adopting the Declaration of Indepedence. The Declaration was sparked by the anger over Parliament's Stamp Act in 1765. Colonists called for boycotts of British goods and the call of "no taxation without representation" echoes over the land. The Act was appealed in 1766 after months of protests and attacks against tax collectors and the customhouses. Then in 1773 the Tea Act was passed basically allowing the East India Company to become a monopoy in the American tea trade. This was seen as another taxation by the Americans, thus sparking the "Boston Tea Party" and a chain of events of the British dominance in the Massachusetts including the closing of Boston merchant shipping and establishing British rule. The first Continental Congress was called to lead a united resistence to British rule. In Lexington, April 19, 1775 the first shots of the American Revolution against the British were fired.

The Continental Congress began passing measures to outst British rule. In 1776 Thomas Paine wrote and published Common Sense, a highly circulated pamphlet agruing the importance and need for independence.

The Declaration was written by Thomas Jefferson (the 3rd president of the United States). You can read a copy of the Declaration at the National Achives site. Jefferson wrote the immortal words American's live by today "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness."

The Revolutionary War continued on for five years after the Declarations of Independence was adopted by the thirteen States. In 1783 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, the United States became officially a free and independent nation.

So today while enjoying your July 4th with cook outs and fireworks, give a few moments to think of the brave men and women who fight for freedom--past and present.

Marianne LaCroix
http://www.mariannelacroix.com/
SEA HAWK'S MISTRESS -- Coming July 18, 2007 from Ellora's Cave
THE GLADIATOR -- Coming Summer 2007 from New Concepts Publishing
CROSSED SWORDS -- Fall 2007 from Ellora's Cave