Seminar Notes - History of Tabloids

There were only three of us in our seminar this week and so our seminar was more of a lecture by Chris about the history tabloids. The following are the notes from the seminar/lecture.

UK Newspaper Circulation War

In the UK in the 1900s there was a circulation war between the three largest papers:

The Daily Herald

• Trade union paper
• Labour
• Had the biggest circulation, at one point exceeding 12 million

The Daily Express

• Owned by Beaverbrook
• Had the second biggest circulation
• Conservative

The Daily Mail

• Owned by Northcliffe
• Inspired by William Randolph Hearst

Modern journalism was invented in the USA in the 1980s by Hearst, and this was copied by Northcliffe, who took the style to the UK. 

Paper circulation:

The 1960s saw a massive step forward in the way paper's were circulated thanks to the railways. Prior to the railways newspapers were local with a very small circulation because it was not physically possible to deliver papers across large areas of the country. The advancement in steam technologies, such as the railway, also led to advancements in the production machinery which meant that it was possible to produce many more papers that previously possible.

In the 1970s the invention of the telegraph system led to developments in the content of papers because it meant that news was able to be instantly sent to different areas of the country. This meant that the biggest stories, such as the Crimean War, was able to be printed in papers across the country the next, or in some cases the same, day. Prior to the invention of the telegraph the news from one part of the country would only reach the other side of the country in the amount of time it took someone to travel there and tell them.

Hearst:

William Randolph Hearst was a newspaper proprietor in San Fransisco and owned the San Fransisco Examiner. Hearst benefited greatly from the 'Gold Rush Town' by advertising about it in his paper, and making readers believe that by buying his paper they would learn where the best places to find gold were, etc.

After his success in San Fransisco, Hearst became set on conquering New York. In the 1900s New York was the place to be, with buildings taller than anyone had seen before, electricity, gas and tube train and it was home to America's elite.

Hearst bought a newspaper in New York, and was then in direct competition with the newspaper giant of New York, Pulitzer. This resulted in a circulation war between the two newspaper giants which even involved literally killing people such as newspaper vendors who were selling the oppositions papers.

The turning point in the circulation war between Hearst and Pulitzer came down to cartoon strips. Pulitzer's papers showed Superman cartoon strips which were popular with readers, but not as popular as the cartoon strip of the Yellow Kid. (shown below) Hearst bought the Yellow Kid which was so popular with readers it was that which effectively won him the war.

In the 1900s Hearst invited Northcliffe to be guest editor on his New York paper. During his time as editor in New York, Northcliffe established all the methods to making a successful newspaper, and bought this methodology back to the UK.