NEWSPLAN London and the South East

History and Society Through Local Newspapers
in London and the South East

Newspaper History in London & the South East

While the South East is not the home of the first provincial newspaper, Canterbury in Kent was among the first British towns to start a newspaper: the Kentish Post or Canterbury News-Letter in 1717. Within a few years other towns such as Reading in Berkshire (Reading Mercury or Weekly Entertainer 1723), Colchester in Essex (Essex Mercury and Weekly Journal 1733) and Lewes in Sussex (Sussex Weekly Advertiser 1746) followed. Although many of these newspapers were very short-lived the Kentish Gazette (1768) was an exception and still exists. Early newspapers had wide circulation: the Reading Mercury claimed that it circulated in ten counties. A rare example of a cross-county title is the County Herald, Middlesex & Herts Courier & Weekly Advertiser for Bucks, Surrey & E. Sussex (1790-1873) which circulated in all the counties named in its title.

Despite progressively harsh taxation, the number of new newspapers increased steadily in the late 18th century and most significant towns boasted at least one title: examples are Chelmsford in Essex, Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, Chichester in Sussex, Hertford in Hertfordshire and Maidstone in Kent. There were exceptions: for instance, Guildford in Surrey and Dover in Kent both of which lacked a local newspaper until comparatively late, with the Surrey Advertiser appearing in 1864 and the Dover Telegraph & Cinque Ports General Advertiser in 1833. Some towns had a thriving press with papers representing rival political interests as in Brighton in Sussex where the Brighton Patriot & Lewes Free Press (1835) challenged the Brighton Gazette and the Brighton Herald. Brighton and Hackney in London were also the homes of a distinctive satirical press.

The early regional and local newspapers - apart from their advertisements - tended to carry rather little local information, relying instead on reprinting news from London papers. In the mid-19th century the emphasis changed and the local newspaper became the voice of the local area it served. This may account partially for the rapid increase in new titles in the late 19th century, especially in the London boroughs. The other reason for the expansion of newspapers was the lifting of restrictive taxes which led to a dramatic fall in price. At the same time suburbs developed around London, all of which produced a newspaper. Thus, by the 1870s the railways town of Woking in Surrey had two newspapers: the Woking News and the Woking Mail. Continued urban expansion saw many more new titles, like the Wembley News (1925-1975) in London.

Most newspapers in the region were weekly titles but there were a few morning daily papers such as, The Clerkenwell News and Domestic Intelligencer (1855-1871) and the Brighton Daily News (1868-1880). In the 1880s improved printing technology led to a provincial evening press. The Brighton Argus was unusual in becoming an evening newspaper in 1886. An often overlooked feature of the newspaper press in the South East of the UK as a whole is that the London boroughs themselves have a thriving and well established local press. Early on the scene was the Kentish Mercury in London's Greenwich. The Hampstead & Highgate Express (1860 -) and the South London Press (1865 -) are well respected, and widely circulating, titles serving London.

The regional and local press suffered severely from paper shortages in World War I and many titles ceased publication. Some were long-running, like the Hastings & St. Leonards Advertiser (1863-1918) in Sussex. The local press never really recovered during this period and World War II saw the end of more newspapers including London's Acton Gazette. The decline seemed irreversible and major press publishers such as Lord Thomson and Cecil King began to forecast the death of many important regional titles. But two new factors came into play. The first was the re-establishment of a provincial evening press with a number of new titles appearing, like the Evening Post (Reading) (1965 -). However, second and much more significant was the considerable rise of the free newspaper from the 1970s onwards with, also, some paid-for titles such as the Hendon Times becoming free. Often the free newspapers such as the Yellow Advertisers in Essex, the Informers in Surrey and the Advertisers in north London have a series of variant titles and pages for particular localities. Despite the growth of free newspapers, the publishing situation remains fluid and recent years have seen the demise of a number of long established titles such as the Reading Mercury (1723-1987).

Along with local newspapers' continued importance as an advertising medium it has been estimated in recent times that around 40% of the UK's adult population still read a regional newspaper rather than a national daily. In the South East, paid-for titles such as the Kent Messenger and the Essex Chronicle have considerable circulation.

London's famous Evening Standard is viewed more as a semi-national newspaper. It has a large circulation both in and beyond London and close contact with events and political developments in the capital city. Its series of editions published during the day can report major news, as it is breaking, more quickly than many newspapers that publish only in the morning or in the evening or weekly.

[This brief history was written by Diana Dixon as part of the NEWSPLAN report for London & the South East published by the British Library Board in 1996 - see Publications. A few amendments and additions have been made more recently by Andrew Phillips].

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