The rise of Journalism Valentina Tenedini with the help of Classe IV lsa academic year 2013-14 I.S. Regina Maria Adelaide Aosta

In the first part of the 18th century, the “Augustan Age”, England enjoyed internal stability and prosperity. The middle-class rose and showed significant interest for education and current news, which allowed journalism to develop, with a proliferation of newspapers and periodicals, that became very popular both with the upper and middle classes. in the late 17th century London became the centre of the middle-class culture. So Clubs and coffee-houses were set up where people met, read and discussed current events. Women participated in the cultural and political debates as well. The new idea of freedom for the individual was applied to them, as a matter of fact they were often the heroines of the new art form, THE NOVEL.

The most distinguished editors were Richard Steele, author of The Tatler, Joseph Addison, author of The Spectator, and Daniel Defoe, with his newspaper "The Review". Their periodicals were written in a lively, witty, but simple style. Addison and Steele helped John Locke's philosophy to spread. English periodicals exerted such influence on their contemporaries, that many European newspapers were fashioned and modelled on the British ones.

Daniel Defoe, The Review D. founded "The Review" between 1704 and 1713, which dealt with trade, money, taxes, freedom of the press issues. He was aware that, in order to attract the attention of a wide audience, it was necessary to deal with lighter topics too, so he created a section in the newspaper dedicated to the observation of facts, news and contemporary books which inspired his essays on the customs of the time, therefore he is justly considered the most important predecessor of Addison's and Steele's journalism.

Richard Steele, The Tatler The Tatler was started in 1709 by Richard Steele, a Whig Irishman. He understood the growing middle class need for more information so his newpaper dealt with politics and other more popular topics (e.g. fashion, entertainment and gossip from the Clubs and Coffee houses.) Gradually his periodical began to expose also current affairs (e.g. duels, gambling, discussions on good manners). It was published 3 times a week. Steele's informal style purposedly reproduced the conversational style of the Coffee-Houses. Later Steele was joined by Joseph Addison, who excluded politics and political news, choosing discussions on cultural and moral issues and literary criticism instead. In 1711, after the publication of 271 issues, “The Tatler” was replaced by another newspaper, “The Spectator”.

Joseph Addison, The Spectator The Spectator came out in 1711 and ran until 1712. It was devoid of political news and strictly neutral between the Whigs and the Tories. This decision proved to be less dangerous and more profitable for the authors, favouring the paper’s larger circulation. Addison's purpose was to make the public aware of recent developments in bourgeois philosophy and literature, as well as to try and educate their tastes.

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