The Daily Express
Right-of-centre, mass-market tabloid daily, published in London
Launched in 1900 by Arthur Pearson as a mid-market broadsheet, the ha'penny Express was the first to devote its front page to news (rather than advertisements). When Pearson went blind, during the Great War, he sold the paper to the soon-to-be Lord Beaverbrook, the first "Fleet Street baron" and an evangelist of the free press.
By 1936, the right-wing Express had the world's largest circulation of more than two million, rising to four million in the 1940s. It was one of the first newspapers to carry gossip, sport and women's articles and the first to carry a crossword. With its commercial success and vast editorial staff around the world, it dominated Fleet Street. Its contributors run from the exiled Leon Trotsky to Evelyn Waugh (who lampooned Beaverbrook as Lord Copper - "up to a point"), William Hickey (Tom Driberg) and the cartoonist Giles. The Express became a (black-top) tabloid in 1978.
For all republishing permission enquires for Express pages please contact syndication.queries@express.co.uk
The Sunday Express
Right-of-centre, mass-market Sunday tabloid, published in London
Newly ennobled as Lord Beaverbrook (for WWI services as Minister of Information), Max Aitken MP launched the Sunday sister to his recently acquired Daily Express in 1918. Both papers were Conservative-supporting broadsheets and, at its peak in the 1950s, the Sunday had a circulation in excess of three million.
The Sunday Express was the first newspaper to publish a regular readers horoscope, having started with a special for the birth of Princess Margaret in 1930. The broadsheet paper became a tabloid black-top in 1992, 15 years after its daily sister.
For all republishing permission enquires for Express pages please contact syndication.queries@express.co.uk
Daily Mirror
Left-of-centre, red-top tabloid daily, published in London
Launched in 1903 by Alfred Harmsworth (of the Daily Mail - later Lord Northcliffe) as a newspaper for women by women, the penny Mirror had the first woman editor in Fleet Street. That, however, lasted just six months before a new editor fired all the women! Now carrying the masthead "A paper for men and women", it was the first in the world to print photographs: the illustrated front pages (no adverts!) are a remarkable pictorial record of the first third of 20th century.
In 1937, under Cecil King, the Mirror was restyled in the model of the New York tabloids, with a political stance firmly behind the Labour Party. By the late 40s, it was the UK's biggest-selling newspaper, peaking at 5million copies in the 60s during the Profumo tribulations of the MacMillan Government and the subsequent Labour victory under Harold Wilson. Despite its politics, the Mirror is mainly pacifist - unsympathetic to the Falklands War and consistently opposed the invasion of Iraq. Contributors include Cassandra (William Connor), Keith Waterhouse, Paul Foot and cartoonists Philip Zec and Reg Smythe (Andy Capp).
Daily Star
Red-top celebrity-and-sports UK-national tabloid daily
Originally a Manchester-produced red-top tabloid for the north of England, the Star was launched in 1978 - the first new national daily in the UK in nearly half a century - as a response from Express Newspapers to the rise of Rupert Murdoch's Sun. Like the Sun, it features topless girls on page 3 - the Star Babes. Unlike the Sun (and its own sister Express titles), it was a Labour Party supporter.
When it went national and introduced newspaper Bingo to the 1980s tabloid wars, it saw circulation rise to nearly two million (mainly at the expense of the Sun). Since the 1980s, it has had no detectable stance in UK politics, concentrating on celebrities, TV and sport.
For all republishing permission enquires for Star pages please contact syndication.queries@express.co.uk
Star On Sunday
Red-top celebrity-and-sports UK-national tabloid Sunday
Originally a Manchester-produced red-top tabloid for the north of England, the Star was launched in 1978 - the first new national daily in the UK in nearly half a century - as a response from Express Newspapers to the rise of Rupert Murdoch's Sun. Like the Sun, it features topless girls on page 3 - the Star Babes. Unlike the Sun (and its own sister Express titles), it was a Labour Party supporter.
Launched by Express Newspapers in 2002, the Sunday shares much of its daily sister's affiliation-free politics and celebrity/TV editorial mix - although its Page 3 model tends to be slightly more clothed - with particular emphasis on coverage of the weekend sport.
Daily Worker / Morning Star
Socialist tabloid daily, published in London
Founded in 1930 by the Communist Party of Great Britain, the Daily Worker was a broadsheet newspaper for the working man and trades unionist. Its coverage of the Spanish Civil War is uniquely valuable but the WWII axis between Germany and Russia created a problem for the Communist paper: in 1941, it was banned by the British Government for 18 months (until Germany invaded Russia and the Worker's editorial stance could be "realigned"; for the rest of the war, it was very pro-Alliance war effort.
In 1945, ownership was transferred to the People's Press and Printing Society (with which it remains) and, in 1966, the paper was relaunched as the Morning Star. Now a Monday-Saturday tabloid, the Star is reliant on donations from readers and well-wishers.
Church Times
The world's largest-selling Anglican newspaper, published weekly.
The world's largest-selling Anglican newspaper, published weekly since 1863; independent of the Church of England, it has a large subscription list of church readers and students across the globe.
From its inception, the Church Times defended the spiritual independence of the Church of England, in spite of the Church's Established status. Many of the ceremonial and doctrinal matters that the paper championed are now accepted as part of mainstream Anglicanism.
An "ecclesiastical and general" newspaper, it provides extensive coverage of meetings of the Church of England's central bodies, including the Convocations, the Church Assembly, and the General Synod but also covers world events. Much of its space has always been given over to book reviews and, more recently, coverage of the arts.
The Watchman
The Watchman, the first Methodist newspaper
As its full title suggests, The Watchman & Wesleyan Advertiser was a Methodist weekly - born in 1835, in the aftermath of 19th century Reform agitation and legislation; four of the six Tolpuddle martyrs who attempted to form an early trade union in Dorset in 1834 were Methodists.
It was the issue of increased recognition of Irish Catholicism, seen as a threat to the British establishment, that triggered a newspaper as an official organ for the Wesleyan body. The Watchman's stated aim was to defend the principles and economy of Wesleyan Methodism, as settled by its venerable Founder and by the Conference since his decease. Its reactionary political sympathies were evident and it was supported by The Times, notably pro-establishment, which occasionally reprinted its articles.
The Watchman archive has an impressive breadth and depth of reporting of matters of import in 19th Century Great Britain and abroad. Details of movements of clergy are useful for those trying to track their family history; parliamentary election results are published in detail; discussions of the Second Anglo-Afghan war (1878-80) may give some perspective to modern campaigns.
The Fascist Press
The newspapers published by the British Union of Fascists
The Fascist Press archive comprises three titles published by the British Union of Fascists (BUF) between 1933 and 1940.
Blackshirt
Initially a weekly, then a monthly newspaper, covering February 1933-May 1939. From June 1934, it became styled as "The official organ of the British Union of Fascists". With the launch of Action, the focus of The Blackshirt changed, becoming primarily targeted at card-carrying members of the movement.
Fascist Week
Launched by the British Union of Fascists in November 1933 - nine months after the launch of Oswald Mosley's Blackshirt and Hitler's accession in Germany - Fascist Week lasted just 29 issues before it was incorporated into The Blackshirt. Notable contributors included Benito Mussolini and William Joyce (aka the Nazi broadcaster Lord Haw-Haw) who was hanged for treason in 1946.
Action
First published in 1936, Action adopted a soft-sell, magazine-style of journalism on behalf of Oswald Mosley's BUF. With a more-visual front page, it incorporated film and book reviews and aimed more at maintaining links with BUF sympathisers and recruiting new members. It is notable that, while the other two organs of the BUF, The Blackshirt and Fascist Week, had disappeared before the outbreak of WWII, Action was allowed to soldier on into 1940 - in fact, two weeks after the internment of Mosley, himself.