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].