The Effect of Changes Brought by Lord Northcliffe - Essay Example

Lord Northcliffe Impact on the Newspaper Industry Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Background of Lord Northcliffe 3 New Journalism and Its Examples 4 Changes in Newspaper before Northcliffe 5 Influence of Technology Change 5 Northcliffe’s Contributions to “New Journalism” 6 Difference between Northcliffe’s Changes and the Innovation Brought by His Predecessors 7 Contribution of Northcliffe and the Daily Mail to the Development of Journalism 8 Effect of Northcliffe’s Changes to Other Newspapers 9 Effect of Northcliffe led Changes Felt in Subsequent Decades 10 Northcliffe’s Influence on the Present Newspapers 11 Conclusion 11 References 13 Introduction Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, who was also known as Lord Northcliffe, was a British publication and newspaper industrialist. In the earlier phase of 19th century, Lord Northcliffe became a pioneer of newspaper in Britain who contributed in revolutionising the publication of newspapers and magazines in the nation. As his career started, it was viewed that he became a legend for his contribution to the British newspaper industry (Bingham, 2013). The discussion hereafter intends to describe the impact of Lord Northcliffe on the British newspaper industry. It also highlights the changes that Lord Northcliffe brought that resulted in revolutionising the entire operation of press in the nation. Background of Lord Northcliffe Lord Northcliffe was the person responsible for popularising journalism that has eventually resulted in shaping the newspapers in the present era. In the year 1896, Lord Northcliffe initiated the Daily Mail, which has emerged as one of the largest selling newspapers in the UK. He started his first magazine in school but sometimes he used to write journalism. Once he left studying in school, he turned out to be an editor of the Bicycling News, which was a huge accomplishment for him at the age of 20 years (Bingham, 2013). Consequently, Lord Northcliffe became fully proficient and utilised his entire knowledge in popularising commercial newspaper. It was viewed that he was heavily influenced by the American newspaper that followed a distinctive layout and style for publishing. This in turn helped him to obtain an understanding about the American style of newspaper wherein he used these ideas in Daily Mail so that the paper appears different from other newspaper publications. Eventually, it was revealed that Daily Mail became one of the most successful newspaper publishers in Britain and till date has been running successfully, wherein the contributions made by Lord Northcliffe are unignorable (Bingham, 2013). New Journalism and Its Examples The concept of New Journalism was commenced, early, during the 1880s by Joseph Pulitzer. It was considered that new journalism concept had been mainly focused on the masses instead of the classes in the society. New Journalism soon gained increased popularity due to which the circulation of newspaper significantly increased in the American region. New journalism transformed the entire system of journalism wherein new style and professionalism was used in the printing of papers. Moreover, Pulitzer encouraged its editors to reveal the truth that would have a strong moral background while the paper gets publicised or printed. There were evidence that the concept of new journalism was duplicated by other newspaper publishers as the new style of journalism was quite unique which helped in attracting more readers (Sloan & Parcell, 2002). New Journalism is therefore, often used to describe a new revolution in journalism, stimulating changes in the orthodox techniques of various writers (Tichenor, 2010). It has been revealed that New Journalism provided freedom to various new reporters, which ensured that the report made by them was free from any kind of biases (Bortz, 2005). Following his involvement in the British newspaper industry through Daily Mail, Northcliffe was of the view that Britain was a productive place to implement the new American journalism. Initially British press was hesitant to new journalism but later the style was adopted in Britain, which resulted in an augmented influence of British press on its readers, especially for Daily Mail being a pioneer to bring these changes under the leadership of Northcliffe (Broersma, n.d.). Changes in Newspaper before Northcliffe Northcliffe provided a huge contribution to the newspaper industry by bringing in a huge revolution. However, changes were apparent in the newspaper industry observable before Northcliffe actually came into existence. One of the leaders in stimulating those changes involved George Newness, who adapted the American styles on the newspapers in Britain who tested and shaped new limits for English journalism through journals such as Tit-Bits, which was introduced in the year 1881. Newness included several contents in Tit-bits ranging from history, competition, jokes, general knowledge and various others to obtain competitive advantages over its contemporaries, giving a more contemporary and commercial look to the British newspaper industry and driving the prospective of New Journalism further (Conboy, 2004). Influence of Technology Change It was witnessed that technology played a huge role in changing the entire system of newspaper industry. With the emergence of new technology, it was observed that radical newspaper was interchanged to popular newspapers. During the mentioned period, press also got industrialised wherein technology played a huge role in substantially increasing the number of newspaper copies that could be printed at a particular time, to maintain parity in the demand and supply functions. As a result, Sunday newspaper became popular and with the help of technology, it got widely spread in the British market (Badmus, 2012). Due to rapid industrialisation, telephones, cameras, typewriters were heavily used to gather news in Britain. These technologies were also used by Northcliffe in Daily Mail newspapers that helped in bringing revolution in the entire operation of press in the UK. Moreover, with the introduction of railway system in the nation, it became easier for the publishers to gather news on a large-scale basis, while the distribution of printed newspaper through railways also became cheaper. It was also during this period that media began to play a fundamental role in creating awareness among common people regarding the importance of reading newspapers. It would be worth mentioning that technology resulted in popularising newspapers, which ultimately benefitted the newspaper industry in the UK. In addition new equipments for printing newspapers were introduced, which made the printing process a time-efficient and resourceful operation (Badmus, 2012). Northcliffe’s Contributions to “New Journalism” As can be witnessed from the above discussion, Northcliffe played a significant role in the ignition of New Journalism that resulted in changing the entire system of newspaper reporting and magazines being published in the UK. It was revealed that one of the major contributions of Northcliffe to New Journalism was his strategic focus on making the culture of newspaper reading more familiar to working people along with female readers within the society. Northcliffe’s contribution was highly influenced by the innovations brought by him. These innovations included change in the entire look and the overall quality of newspaper. He also used his innovativeness to create new banner headlines and photos were used largely under the new innovative newspaper introduced by Northcliffe. Northcliffe’s innovation also resulted in the reduction in the overall cost of the printing newspapers, as he used a new type of printing method. Moreover, due to his innovations it could be revealed that newspapers were more inclined towards topics that were related to human interests along with the readers ease to read (Fertig, 2013). Accordingly, he brought innovation in the entire format of newspaper reading wherein the format of headlines was changed and new types of contents were added. He created awareness among people through New Journalism that was based upon the belief that life is wider than politics in the country and stimulated common people’s right to information (Donsbach, 2008). In addition, he also believed that newspaper contents should provide a reflection of the actual preferences and tastes of the readers that is intended to increase their knowledge. It was observed that Northcliffe’s work on New Journalism helped in reshaping the journalism content during the period of 20th century. This in turn compelled other proprietor’s follow the content of newspaper that was actually similar to the pattern set by him. He also contributed in making the newspaper more eye-catching for the readers along with advertisers that resulted in quadrupling the number of newspapers sold in the UK, being stimulated by the dual role of an updated, valuable information channel and an advertising media, delivering values to the common public as well as its corporate stakeholders (Keeble, 2005). Difference between Northcliffe’s Changes and the Innovation Brought by His Predecessors Newspaper and journalism was observed to be subjected under huge changes during the early 1900s wherein the position of a major contributor for these changes was often credited to Northcliffe and his viewpoint towards the newspaper industry. However, there were certain differences between the changes brought by Northcliffe as compared to his predecessors. In the year 1914, William Maxwell, a journalist from Britain defined the differences between older and newer styles of journalism in relation to the approaches used by Northcliffe and his predecessors (Chapman & Nuttall 2011). Maxwell stated that the proprietor of old newspaper i.e. the predecessor did not provide much idea to the readers about the inherent merits of its newspaper. Moreover, proprietors of old newspaper were not concerned whether the public would read it or not. On the other hand, Northcliffe led changes resulted in pooling a huge number of people so as to discover new ideas for enhancing the circulation of newspapers. Moreover, Northcliffe’s changes were also focused towards obtaining support for the newspaper sellers that would ultimately result in attracting a huge number of readers and advertisers in the UK. It would be worth stating that the innovation brought by Northcliffe was not done by any other newspaper and editors in the UK. Moreover, the revolution brought by Northcliffe was incomparable to other newspapers and editors at that point of time (Chapman & Nuttall 2011). Contribution of Northcliffe and the Daily Mail to the Development of Journalism When considering Northcliffe’s contribution to Daily Mail, it can be evidently witnessed that he was the pioneer to introduce Daily Mail in the year 1896, which was then regarded as a birth of the greatest paper in the entire history of the UK. Northcliffe’s contribution helped in supporting the foundation of contemporary journalism due to which, he was considered as an extraordinary pioneer in the field (Harris, 2013). In the early days, Northcliffe set certain standards for the newspaper industry and its publication, which are now considered as the norms of modern journalism. In addition, the launch of Daily Mail resulted in attracting a huge number of readers, which was not possible by the older forms of newspapers. This particular fact provides evidence that Daily Mail contributed in positively influencing journalism, as it is current observed. It would be worth mentioning that Daily Mail and Northcliffe’s contribution has resulted in changing the entire history of journalism (Harris, 2013). It was also viewed that with the introduction of Daily Mail, the word tabloid was also introduced to the public, which described Northcliffe’s vision wherein he perceived that the content in his newspapers were in a form of smaller effective pills. The newspaper published by Daily Mail got highly credited in the UK that resulted into the commencement of a new trend among the press in the UK. This trend, at that particular time, was considered elite in nature (Johansson, 2007). From an overall perspective, it can be asserted that the contributions made by Northcliffe through the Daily Mail helped in developing the UK newspaper industry largely. Effect of Northcliffe’s Changes to Other Newspapers From the aforesaid study, it could be revealed that Northcliffe brought huge changes to the entire newspaper industry and in the process of journalism due to which, other newspaper manufacturing companies were also affected. Till date, it is believed that the impact of Northcliffe led changes could not be ignored in the UK during the earlier phase of the 20th century (Bingham, 2013). It was observed that he applied a populist method in the Sunday press that transformed the entire function of other newspapers. Moreover, he also altered the economic basis of the newspaper system that increased the competition of circulation among other newspapers. Northcliffe became the person who was widely recognised by the public, which resulted into laying down the pattern of “modern press baron”. He also launched various campaigns that highlighted major issues and generated certain controversial aspects, which in turn publicised Daily Mail and provided huge competition to the other newspapers operating in the UK. Overall, it can be asserted that with the initiation of Northcliffe’s changes in the UK, other newspapers were facing tough competition as Daily Mail was largely getting popularised among the readers in the UK. Moreover, Daily Mail was successful in creating awareness among the people, which was merely met by other newspapers functioning in the UK and created a greater understanding among them (Bingham, 2013). Effect of Northcliffe led Changes Felt in Subsequent Decades Undoubtedly, Northcliffe brought huge changes in the system of newspaper printing and the pattern of journalism. Effect of these changes brought by Northcliffe could be felt in the subsequent years till date. Northcliffe brought changes in the newspaper pattern wherein he was more concerned about reading tastes of the newspaper readers in UK. Subsequently, in the forthcoming years, it was viewed that the newspapers were printed considering the readers preferences in relation to the contents provided in the paper. The innovative changes brought by Northcliffe were incorporated in the newspaper printing system in the UK in the subsequent decades. The foundation of contemporary journalism was also laid down through the changes brought by Northcliffe, previously in the entire industry. It was also observed that a new kind of trend was commenced within various presses in the UK, which was brought by Northcliffe and was felt in the subsequent decades through alterations in the trend followed among the printing presses. It was also perceived that the changes brought by Northcliffe could not be overlooked as these changes were felt consequently in the newspaper system of the UK. Moreover, he also introduced “modern press baron” in the UK that eventually resulted in changing the overall system being followed by the presses in the nation (Bingham, 2013). Northcliffe’s Influence on the Present Newspapers Northcliffe’s influence contributed a huge role in shaping the newspapers read by the people of the UK today. He introduced popular forms of journalism that is still being used by various journalists in the UK. Northcliffe’s influence in relation to the format of newspapers has gained increased popularity in the newspaper published in the 21st century. Northcliffe led changes also influenced the role of news reporter and media in the 21st century, wherein it was observed that the system of reporting and news publication was completely based upon the foundation laid down by him (Gorman & McLean, 2009). Furthermore, it was also revealed that the influence of Northcliffe also refashioned the system of local news along with the home pages being used by them. Northcliffe’s influence contributed in transforming the newspaper industry at that particular time, the effects of which can still been felt in the printing process of newspapers in the 21st century (Guardian News and Media Limited, 2014). Hence, it can be asserted that Northcliffe played a major role in influencing the newspapers being published in the present day context as well. Conclusion Lord Northcliffe was one of the famous newspaper industrialists in the UK, who turned out to be a pioneer of newspaper in the 19th century. He introduced Daily Mail in the year 1896, which were a newspaper publishing UK company and the largest seller of newspapers at that particular time. He was heavily influenced by American writers due to which he used their style and layout for publishing Daily Mail papers. Likewise, New Journalism got introduced in the year 1973, which resulted in providing huge freedom to the news reporters. Technological factors also influenced the entire system used in the publication of the newspapers, wherein there was a huge contribution of Northcliffe towards the development of journalism. Moreover, Northcliffe brought certain changes that also affected the other newspapers in Britain. In addition, the effect of changes brought by Northcliffe could also be felt in the subsequent years, which have played a major role in influencing the newspapers being published today. References Badmus, K., 2012. The Northcliffe Revolution and the Rise of the Popular Press. Prezi Inc. [Online] Available at: http://prezi.com/sw32lpn8xn5z/week-6-the-northcliffe-revolutuion-and-the-rise-of-the-popukar-press/ [Accessed April 7, 2014]. Bingham, A., 2013. The Original Press Baron: The Role and Legacy of Lord Northcliffe. The University of Sheffield, pp. 1-7. Bortz, E. J., 2005. The New Journalism and Its Editors: Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Wolfe, and Their Early Experiences. University Of Florida, pp. 1-129. 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