History of journalism
1562 mots
7 pages
Even though some British newspaper offices left Fleet Street – a London street beginning from the City of London and ending at Westminster – it continues to be used as a synonym for the British national press. Fleet Street was considered as the home of the British Press until the 1980s. But back to the 16th century, Fleet Street meant even more. Even though printing press existed since the 15th century thanks to the Gutenberg’s invention, Fleet Street became a centre for all the printers only a century later. It was actually the heart of the press at this time. And London was without any doubt the largest city in England, and one of the biggest in Europe. It had a great influence on other European countries or cities. At this time, London meant a lot in terms of culture in Europe. Moreover, since the 15th century, the British capital was also a great European centre in terms of trade and later in terms of industry too. For instance, Great Britain was the first European country to undergo the industrial revolution in the 18th century. In the 16th century, London was a dangerous city but it was well organized. That was not a surprise if the industry of newspaper organized itself in a specific area of the city. The main question remains: Why was Fleet Street such a great centre of influence for all the printers? And above all, why London was such a great centre for the development of the serial publications? We will see which were the factors that made London so important for the beginnings of the newspapers. There are actually different kinds of facts that are important to understand why serial publication was born in London. First of all, we already talked about the importance of London in terms of trade and techniques. London was really a great economic centre in the entire Europe at this time. In the 16th century, London became one of the most important European commercial centres. This was the period when was born mercantilism and monopoly trading