The History of the Evening News

8/3/2019 The History of the Evening News

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THE HISTORY OF THE EVENING

NEWSy INTRODUCTION

y The information presented below has been organised

in the form of a timeline, detailing certain key eventsin the newspaper's history from 1881 to 1987. It isintended as a general overview of the newspaper whichI hope will be of interest to those curious about theorigins and history of the Evening News. The facts

assembled here have been derived from varioussources which include issues of the newspaper itself,Internet sites and several publications which I havelisted at the bottom of this web page.


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y The Evening Newswas founded in 1881 by Coleridge Kennedy andHarry Marks. The first edition of the newspaper was published on July26, 1881 and was priced at one halfpenny. It was four pages long with sixcolumns to a page and was edited by Martin Fradd, who had previously

edited the Torquay Evening News in Devon. Curiously, the very firstissue of the Evening Newsmade no announcement of the fact that itwas the first edition, nor was there any proclamation of editorial policy.Unheralded, the paper simply came out.

y The original daily circulation of the Evening News totalled a mere10,000 copies. In the early years of its life the newspaper wasdistributed in London from traps drawn by ponies.

y Martin Fradd, together with several of his associates (also from Devon),set up the original newspaper offices of the Evening News at 83-85Farringdon Street, Ludgate Circus, London, E.C. The building thathoused the offices of the newspaper was in fact situated in an alley justoff Farringdon Street.


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y Soon after its inception, the Evening News, which had originally entertained somewhat liberalaspirations, became the voice of the Conservative Party when it was bought by the ConservativeNewspaper Company Ltd. At this point Martin Fradd was replaced as editor by Frederick A. Hyndmanwhose own brief tenure came to an end when Charles Williams, a former war correspondent, tookover as editor in 1882.

y In 1882, the Evening News headquarters were relocated to a ramshackle building at 12 WhitefriarsStreet, London, E.C. The newspaper was to remain at this address for the next twenty years.

y In 1883 Frank Harris (1856-1931) was appointed as the new editor. Harris held the position for fouryears during which time he became known for his sensationalising headlines. He left in 1887 tobecome editor of the Fortnightly Review. His successor was Dr. I. Rubie.

y On November 22, 1888, the editors of the Evening News announced that the circulation of thenewspaper had reached 219,000 copies.

y In 1889 Rubie left the Evening News and was succeeded by W. R. Lawson who himself was replacedthe same year by J. H. Copleston who held the post from 1889-1894.

y On May 13, 1889, the Evening Post, a rival newspaper, lost out in the circulation battle and wasabsorbed by the Evening News. From this date onwards the new amalgamated paper carried the fulltitle of "The Evening News and Post," and was now owned by the Union Newspaper Company Ltd.

y From 1889 onwards the Evening News and Post proudly claimed to have the "largest sale of anyevening paper in London."


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y By the summer of 1894, the newspaper, which was under the control of city financier Harry Marks,was struggling financially. On August 30, 1894, the nearly-bankrupt Evening News and Postwasacquired for 25,000 by the brothers Alfred Harmsworth (1865-1922) and Harold Harmsworth (1868-1940), who were to become the first Lord Northcliffe and the first Lord Rothermere respectively. TheHarmsworth brothers appointed Kennedy Jones (1865-1921), a brilliant young journalist from Glasgow,as the new editor of the Evening News and Post. The paper was to remain under the ownership of the

Harmsworth family empire for its entire lifespan.y On September 17, 1894, the "and Post" was dropped from the title and the newspaper reverted back to

its original name the Evening News. In the same month the paper announced that its average dailysale had increased to 110,000 copies.

y The Evening News broke the world record for the highest individual daily sale of a newspaper onNovember 15, 1894 when 394,447 copies were sold.

y By March 1896 the daily circulation of the Evening News had increased to over 250,000 copies. In thesame year the successful editorship of Kennedy Jones came to an end when he was succeeded as editorby Walter J. Evans.

y On August 26, 1901, the Evening News absorbed another of its rivals, the Evening Mail. From thereonthe full title of the newspaper became "The Evening News and Mail."

y The Evening News and Mailwas the first newspaper to report the death of Queen Victoria on January22, 1901. Throughout its history, the Evening News prided itself on being "first with the news." Formany years this catchphrase reflected the overriding work ethic associated with being a reporter forthe newspaper.


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y In 1902 the offices of the Evening Newswere moved from Whitefriars Street to nearby CarmeliteHouse, which was built in 1898, in Carmelite Street, London, E.C.4. The headquarters of theEvening

News remained at Carmelite House for several decades. It was said that upon entering CarmeliteHouse, in order to gain ingress to the headquarters of the Evening News one had to ascend severalfloors of the building in a creaking wrought-iron lift. Many years later, in the years after the SecondWorld War, the Evening News relocated to Northcliffe House, a short distance away on the corner of

Whitefriars Street.y On March 14, 1905, the newspaper once again changed its name back to the Evening News, dropping

the "and Mail" from the title as it appeared on the front cover. This same issue was in fact a specialeight-page edition. On the following day (March 15) the newspaper expanded its regular size to sixpages. The Evening Newswas the first evening newspaper to do this. In the same year the Harmsworthfamily founded Associated Newspapers Limited, of which the Evening News and the Daily

Mail(founded in 1896) were a part.y The Evening Newswas a pioneering newspaper, not only in journalistic terms but also in its use of

new technology. Journalistic novelties pioneered by the newspaper included the "Woman's World"

and "Gossip of the Day" columns. The Evening Newswas also the first newspaper to install atelephone in its offices (at Carmelite House) and, in 1906, the Evening News initiated the use of motorvans for distribution. With a large fleet in operation, the bright yellow Evening News distribution vanswere for a familiar site in London for many years.


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y During the years of the First World War (1914-1918), the size of the EveningNews fluctuated a great deal. Although there were a number of eight or tenpage issues produced during the war, most editions of the newspaper were onlyfour pages long. By 1917, acute paper shortages in Britain led to the curtailmentof newspaper distribution and smaller sized papers in general.

y In early 1918 enforced rationing was introduced in Britain, after a governmentpolicy of encouraging a code of voluntary rationing had failed to work. Thissituation ensured that the Evening Newsremained at its minimum size of fourpages, and also resulted in the newspaper carrying less advertisements.

y Shortly after the cease-fire agreement on November 11, 1918 which marked theend of the First World War, the Evening News returned to its former size ofeight pages long.Over the next few years the newspaper gradually grew in size.

y In July 1920 the average net daily sale of the Evening Newswas 825,825 copies.y In 1922, the editor Walter J. Evans, who had held the post for 26 years, was

replaced by Charles Beattie (1875-1952), whose tenure ended in 1924 whenFrank L. Fitzhugh took over the role.


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y In 1927 the headquarters of the Daily Mailnewspaper were relocated to the recentlyconstructed Northcliffe House on Tudor Street. From thereon the offices in the originalCarmelite House were fully occupied by the staff of the Evening News. This extra space

was necessary to accommodate the newspaper's rapid growth in both size and popularityduring the mid-1920s. By 1928, the newspaper was sixteen pages long.

y On January 25, 1930, the 15,000th edition of the Evening Newswas published. In the samemonth it was announced that the average daily sale of the newspaper was 691,320 copies.y In the 1930s the Evening News, under the editorship of Frank L. Fitzhugh, was by far and

away the most popular London newspaper. Its circulation was almost as large as thoseofThe Starand the Evening Standardcombined. The average daily net sale throughout1938 was 812, 405 copies.

y Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, the British governmentintroduced paper rationing. As a result of this issues of the Evening News during the war

years were only four pages long. After the war ended in 1945, continuing paper shortagesmeant that the Evening News stayed the same size for the remainder of the decade.y Fitzhugh's long term as editor ended when he passed away in 1944. At this point Guy

Schofield (1902-1990) took over the post.


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y Despite paper restrictions, the Evening News announced on October 22, 1946 that the average daily net sale of the newspaper had reached1,598,181 copies.

y The newspaper achieved its highest-ever circulation under the editorship of Schofield in the late 1940s, when it regularly sold 1,700,000copies.

y In 1950 Schofield was succeeded as editor by John N. Marshall, under whose editorship the biggest-ever individual sale for an issue ofthe Evening Newswas reached. This occurred at the time of the death of King George VI in February 1952, when three million copies weresold in a single day.

y In the early 1950s, when paper rationing f inally came to an end, the Evening News gradually began to grow in size. The newspaper firstexpanded from four to eight pages. By the late 1950s the paper had grown in size to sixteen pages long. From thereon, the Evening Newscontinued to increase in page length.

y Reginald Willis, who had previously worked as assistant editor on the Evening News, took over as editor in 1955.y The Star, a long-running competitor of the Evening News, had its offices in Bouverie Street, just around the corner from the Evening

News headquarters. Although The Starwas founded in 1888, from 1930 it was a companion newspaper to theNews Chronicle, a national dailythat was considered the most liberal of all the Fleet Street newspapers. Both papers folded when they were absorbed by AssociatedNewspapers in 1960. TheNews Chronicle merged with the Daily Mailand The Starwas absorbed by the Evening News.On October 18, 1960,the official title of the newspaper became "The Evening News Incorporated with The Star."

y In 1965 K. Stamp was appointed as the new editor. His replacement in 1967 was Don R. Boddie.y During the 1960s the Evening News steadily increased in size, with the paper regularly producing issues that were between twenty and thirty

pages long.y On September 16, 1968, the paper reverted back to its former name, being once again known simply as the Evening News. At this point the

editors also replaced the distinctive gothic lettering of the newspaper's title as it appeared on the front page, with a more modern typeface.y From the 1950s onwards, the three surviving evening newspapers in London were suffering from dwindling circulations, and competition

between them was fierce. After The Starfolded in 1960, sales of the two remaining newspapers, the Evening News and the Evening Standard,continued to fall. There were a number of reasons for this. The Evening Newsjournalist Felix Barker, writing in 1980, reflected that theconstant reader had gradually become an inconstant reader. In the paper's heyday the typical scenario was that the husband would buy anevening newspaper on his way home from work, handing the paper to his wife when he got home. However, with the rising popularity oftelevision in the 1950s, the necessity for an evening newspaper was lessened. People began to turn more and more to television for their news

and entertainment. Another explanation for the shrinking evening newspaper market was that from the 1940s onwards the population ofinner London did in fact decline dramatically.y In the 1970s sales of the Evening News continued to fall. In addition to this, the newspaper was plagued by several industrial disputes.On a

number of occasions throughout the 1970s theEvening Newswas not printed due to strike action by the printers and maintenance worker'sunions.

y The Evening News converted from broadsheet to tabloid size on September 16, 1974. Although this represented a major break with tradition,it was deemed a necessary step in order for theEveningNews to continue to compete successfully with the Evening Standard. At this pointDon R. Boddie was replaced as editor by Louis Kirby (1928- ), who held the position for the next six years.


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Evening News, formerly known as The Evening News, wasan evening newspaper published in London from 1881 to 1980,

reappearing briefly in 1987. It became highly popular under thecontrol of the Harmsworth brothers. For a long time it

maintained the largest daily sale of any evening newspaper in

London. After financial struggles and falling sales it waseventually merged with its long-time rival theEveningStandardin 1980.


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The paper was founded byColeridge Kennard and Harry Marks. The first issue appeared on July 26, 1881. It was the firstpopular evening paper in London. It was priced at one halfpenny, distinguishing itself from the more

serious pennypapers such as The Times. The first issues were printed on light blue paper and later editions on yellowand green paper.

The rivalry between halfpenny papers in the late 19th century was fierce and almost ended the Evening News.According to some sources the paper was losing 40,000 a year. In 1894 the brothersAlfred and Harold

Harmsworth bought the paper for 25,000.In 1888 Alfred had founded a paper callerAnswers that was modelled after another popular paper called Tit-Bits.

Harold gave up his clerks job to handle the business-side of the papers while Alfred effectively controlled the papers

with great success. Later on Alfred became Lord Northcliffe and Harold became Lord Rothermere. The brothers startedseveral papers of which the Daily Mail became the most influential.Under the editor Kennedy Jones the Evening Newswas one of the papers that transformed the English press with their

so called new journalism. This meant that the papers were aimed at a wider general public than the traditional ones,such as The Times.

.


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20th centuryy The Evening News became one of the leading papers in England under the

control of Northcliffe. In 1900 evening newspapers were not considered to begood investments and most of the London newspapers were losing money. Atthe same time the Evening Newswas making profit of 50,000 a year.

y

The circulation numbers of English newspapers between 1850 and 1930s canonly be guessed at. (The newspapers would not publish exact figures except intheir advertising, which cannot be trusted.) Some authors have carefullyestimated that in 1910 the circulation of the Evening Newswas 300,000. Amongthe halfpenny evening papers this would amount to a share of 35,7 percent. Theestimate for the average circulation of July 1914 is approximately 600,000,which would make it the biggest evening paper in London. 94 short stories bycrime fiction writerWill Scottwere published between 1952 and 1964.[1]

y Northcliffe died in 1922. After that the control of theAssociated Newspapers,including the Daily Mail, Evening News, Weekly Dispatch and Overseas DailyMail, was bought by his brother Harold. After 1936 Harolds son Esmond tookover as the chairman ofAssociated Newspapers.


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Demise and reappearancey Although it had been the biggest evening paper in London over several

decades, at the turn of the 1980s the Evening Newswas struggling withfinancial problems and falling sales. InOctober 1980AssociatedNewspapers announced that the newspaper would be closed at the end

of the month. The last issue was on October 31, 1980. The paper wasmerged with its long-time rival the Evening Standard. For some timethe resulting paper was called theNew Standard. The name EveningNews is still featured on the titlepiece of the Evening Standard.

y The Evening News reappeared for few months in 1987 when it waslaunched by the Evening Standard's ownersAssociated Newspapers inorder to counter Robert Maxwell's London Daily News; this sparked a

price war, by the end of which the Evening Newswas being sold at 5p tothe London Daily News'10p. Following the collapse of the London DailyNews the Evening Newswas once again integrated into the EveningStandard.


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Editorsy 1881: Charles Williams

y 1883: Frank Harris

y 1887: I. Rubie

y 1889: W. R. Lawson

y 1889: J. H. Coplestony 1894: Kennedy Jones

y 1896: Walter Evans

y 1922: Charles Beattie

y 1924: Frank Fitzhugh

y 1943: Guy Schofield

y 1950: J. Marshally 1954: Reg Willis

y 1967: John Gold

y 1974: Louis Kirby

y 1987: Lori Miles

The History of the Evening News

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