Editing History of British newspapers (section)

==18th century==
[[File:Daily Courant plaque London.jpg|thumb|This plaque in London marks the publication in 1702 of ''The Daily Courant'' as London's first daily newspaper]]
There were twelve London newspapers and 24 provincial papers by the 1720s. The ''[[Daily Courant]]'' (11 March 1702–1703) was the first successful daily newspaper in London.<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Newspapers |volume=19 |page=554 |first=Hugh |last=Chisholm }}</ref> In 1695 the ''Postboy'' had been started as a daily paper (actually the first in London), but only four numbers appeared.<ref name=EB1911/> The ''[[Public Advertiser]]'' was started by Henry Woodfall in the 18th century.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Public Advertiser. |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/sc85008016/ |website=Library of Congress |access-date=16 September 2023}}</ref>

The first English journalist to achieve national importance was [[Daniel Defoe]]. On 19 February 1704, whilst still in [[Newgate Prison]] for a political offence, he began his weekly, ''The Review'', which was eventually printed three times a week<ref name=EB1911/> and was a forerunner of ''[[The Tatler (1709 journal)|The Tatler]]'' (started by [[Richard Steele]] in 1709) and ''[[The Spectator (1711)|The Spectator]]'' (started by Steele and [[Joseph Addison]] in 1711). Defoe's ''Review'' came to an end in 1713. Between 1716 and 1720 he published a monthly newspaper with old style title, ''Mercurius Politicus.'' ''[[The Examiner (1710–1714)|The Examiner]]'' started in 1710 as the chief Conservative political mouthpiece, which enjoyed as its most influential contributor, [[Jonathan Swift]]. Swift had control of the journal for 33 issues between November 1710 and June 1711, but once he became dean of [[St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin|St. Patrick's Cathedral]] in Dublin, he gave up regular journalistic work.<ref>{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Kevin|title=Read All About It: a History of the British Newspaper|year=2010|page=302}}</ref>

In 1702 [[Edward Lloyd (coffeehouse owner)|Edward Lloyd]], the virtual founder of the famous "[[Lloyd's]]" of commerce, started a thrice a week newspaper, ''Lloyd's News'', which had but a brief existence in its initial form, but was the precursor of the modern ''[[Lloyd's List]]''. The 76th issue of the original paper contained a paragraph mentioning the House of Lords, for which the publisher was told he would have to pay a fine. He preferred to discontinue his publication instead. In 1726 he in part revived it, under the title of ''Lloyd's List'', published at first weekly, it would later become a daily.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Boyce |editor-first1=George |editor-last2=Curran |editor-first2=James |editor-last3=Wingate |editor-first3=Pauline |title=Newspaper History: From the Seventeenth Century to the Present Day |series=Communication and society |year=1978 |page=423 |publisher=[[Constable & Robinson]] |isbn=978-0-09-462300-2 |oclc=4664565 }}</ref>

The ''[[Edinburgh Courant]]'' was published out of [[Edinburgh]], [[Midlothian]], [[Scotland]]. Its first issue was dated 14-19 Feb 1705 and was sold for a [[penny]]. It was one of the country's first regional papers, second only to the [[Norwich Post]] (1701). The paper was produced twice weekly for five years, then continued as the ''Scots Courant'' until April 1720. Later that same year, the ''Edinburgh Evening Courant'' began publication, and it survived until the ''[[Edinburgh Evening News|Evening News]]'' came into existence in 1873.

The increasing popularity and influence of newspapers was problematic to the government of the day. The first bill in parliament advocating a [[tax on newspapers]] was proposed in 1711. The duty eventually imposed in 1712 was a halfpenny on papers of half a sheet or less and a penny on newspapers that ranged from half a sheet to a single sheet in size. Jonathan Swift expressed in his ''[[A Journal to Stella|Journal to Stella]]'' on 7 August 1712, doubt in the ability of ''The Spectator'' to hold out against the tax. This doubt was proved justified in December 1712 by its discontinuance. However, some of the existing journals continued production and their numbers soon increased. Part of this increase was attributed to corruption and political connections of its owners. Later, toward the middle of the same century, the provisions and the penalties of the [[Stamp Act]] were made more stringent, yet the number of newspapers continued to rise. In 1753 the total number of copies of newspapers sold yearly in Britain amounted to 7,411,757. In 1760 it had risen to 9,464,790 and in 1767 to 11,300,980. In 1776 the number of newspapers published in London alone had increased to 53.<ref>{{cite book|last=Barker|first=Hannah|title=Newspapers, Politics and English Society|year=1999|page=256}}</ref>

''[[The News Letter]]'' is one of [[Northern Ireland]]'s main daily newspapers, published Monday to Saturday. It is the oldest English-language general daily newspaper still in publication in the world, having first been printed in 1737.<ref>[http://www.bc.edu/libraries/research/guides/s-irishnews/ Research guide: Irish news & newspapers] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070809020149/http://www.bc.edu/libraries/research/guides/s-irishnews/ |date=9 August 2007 }}, [[Boston College]], 13 December 2004, accessed 25 September 2006</ref><ref>Ruth Johnston, [http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/yourplaceandmine/belfast/newsletter.shtml Your place and mine: Belfast News Letter], [[BBC]], accessed 25 September 2006</ref> Originally published three times weekly, it became daily in 1855.

The 18th century saw the gradual development of the purely political journal side by side with those papers which were primarily devoted to news, domestic and foreign, and commerce. It was left to Steele and Addison to develop the social side of journalism in their respective papers. In 1761 the ''[[The North Briton|North Briton]]'' came out and it was largely a result of its publisher, [[John Wilkes]], and his campaign for increased freedom of the press that, in 1772 the right to publish parliamentary reports was established.<ref>{{cite book|last=Andrews|first=Alexander|title=A History of British Journalism|year=2011|page=354}}</ref>

''[[The Observer]]'', first published on 4 December 1791, was the world's first [[Sunday newspaper]].