The Early Years of Journalism in London

The aim of this article is to rediscover the historical roots of liberty of speech.  The early British journalism gave rises to the contemporary newspapers where information is the fundamental need for people in our modern societies.

The key of the rise of the middle class to a consciousness of their social and political role in the life of the nation was the development of periodical literature and journalism. The interest that middle-class people took in matter of literature, art and politics, and their enthusiasm to be informed of and discuss events of the time, were gratified by the appearance of periodicals.

The early specimens of newspapers had appeared in London between 1621 and 1641 in the form of periodical news-pamphlets known as “Corantos.” They usually contained mainly foreign news taken from foreign papers, and often criticized the (foreign) policy of King James I who thundered against the political democratization and   “the great liberty of discourse concerning matters of state.” ( D. J. Harvey, 2015). James I banned them but unsuccessful, because “infringing the Royal Prerogative, Parliament at once authorized the publication of ‘Diurnalls’ of its proceedings, to which  the ‘Imprimatur’ was usually given by the clerks of the Lords or Commons.” The “Diurnalls” consisted of eight or sixteen pages, included domestic news, and were issued by various journalists during the period 1641-1670, like Samuel Pecke, a Westminster Hall scrivener (“Printing Number”, 1912).

The “Oxford Gazette” and the “London Gazette” were derived from them and showed the first distinct features of the modern newspapers. The name “Gazette” comes from the Italian “Gazzetta,” a Venetian news-sheet issued about the middle of the 16th century.  The London Gazette was, though no longer a newspaper, but a sort of official record of appointments, bankruptcies and war casualties. While the earliest newspapers were little more than a meager chronicle of events, in Queen Anne’s days they began to include discussions on the most varied subjects and articles intended to promote the interest of a political party.

The Examiner, to which Jonathan Swift both contributed, and conducted from 1710 to 1711,   was a Tory paper  and was opposed by the “Whig Examiner” that relied the pen of Addison. In an age when interest in politics was becoming increasingly keen and widespread, it was virtually obvious that Jonathan Swift would use his gift for satire as a political weapon.  Jonathan Swift supported his opinions in a series of pamphlets of which the most remarkable are those containing attacks against the Whigs and those intended to induce the government to stop the war and recall Marlborough from the Continent:

“I Write for the Service of the Public; I write in Defence [sic] of the Queen, and of those She is pleased to intrust (=entrust) immediately under Her in the Administration of Affaires. If I offend any particular Person, the Law is open, and they very well know where to find a Remedy.” (The Examiner, N. 3. Thursday, December 20)

During the same years Richard Steele started a periodical, The Tatler, the object of which was not so much to give news or discuss politics as to observe that “ the general purpose of this Paper is to expose the false arts of life to pull off the disguises of cunning vanity and affectation and recommend a general simplicity in our dress discourse and our behavior”.  In the first number [April 12, 1709] the object  of the paper was stated, “in order to open men’s eyes” :

“The state of conversation and business in this town having been long perplexed with Pretenders in both kinds; in order to open men’s eyes against such abuses, it appeared no unprofitable undertaking to publish a Paper, which should observe upon the manners of the pleasurable,  as well as the busy part of mankind. To make this generally read,  it seemed the most proper method to form it by way of a Letter of Intelligence, consisting of such parts as might gratify the curiosity of persons of all conditions,  and of each Sex.” (The Tatler, Dedication to Mr. Maynwaring, by Isaac Bickerstaff).

Notes

David J. Harvey, “The Law Emprynted and Englysshed: The Printing Press as an Agent of Change in Law and Legal Culture 1475-1642”: Hart Publishing , 2015, p. 62).

“Printing Number, Reprinted from the 40,000th Issue of the Times, Tuesday, September 10, 1912”, London : J.P. Bland at “The Times” Office, 1912,  p. 22: “The author   of the first ‘Diurnalls’ and of ‘The Perfect Diurnall’ was Samuel Pecke or Pick, a Westminster Hall scrivener. Westminster Hall at the time was occupied by book-stalls sandwiched between the Courts of Law  established around the building.”

The Examiner, N. 3. Thursday, December 20. The Second Volume of The Examiners: Beginning on Thursday the 6^th of December 1711, and ending on Monday the 29^th of December, 1712. Motto: Per Tela, per Ignes. London, Printed for John Morphew, near Stationers-Hall; and A. Dodd, at the Peacock without Temple-Bar, 1714,  pp. 10-11).

The Tatler, Dedication to Mr. Maynwaring, by Isaac Bickerstaff. The Tatler or,  Lucubrations  of Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq., Volume The First, London, Printed for C. Bathurst, and alli, 1774, Dedication.