Friday 9 September 2011

A Ladybird's eye view of the way newspapers were





Many thanks to the reader who has sent me some photocopies of the wonderful Ladybird book The Story of Newspapers, first published in 1969 and priced at a very reasonable 15p.

It's as nostalgic as the Scoop game I found in a charity shop.

The newsrooms in the illustrations are male dominated with the hacks, smoking cigarettes and pipes, looking like something out of Mad Men.

The local press is represented by a chap in a smart blazer covering a cricket match. The book says of evening newspapers "various editions are published during the day, up to about 6pm."

The Story of Newspapers mentions the demise of The News Chronicle and Daily Herald and the competition from commercial television, but celebrates the launch of the Sun and Sunday Telegraph - "the first new Sunday paper for 40 years".

It also says the national press is selling 15 and-a-half-million copies every day.

The preface states: "The daily newspaper is so much a part of our lives that we seldom stop to consider how many people and how much co-operation and technical skill are necessary to bring us the latest news and comment so promptly."

And there's no mention of phone-hacking.
  • Click on the images to enlarge.

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