Read All ABout It! Print Journalism of the 18th Century

By the 18^th century Britain was the Empire in which, "the sun never set" and so much information was available from all parts of the world that it is no wonder journalism experienced a rise in popularity. 

What aided the popularization of newspaper was the increase in literacy in the population as the middle class was expanding and flourishing with commerce and trade. 

Magazines were made for all audiences such as The Lady's Magazine or Entertaining Companion for the Fair Sex, Appropriated Solely to Their Amusement, Which covered women's fashions and happenings and The Gentleman's Magazine which was in print for near 200 years from 1731 to 1922, and where Samuel Johnson was first regularly employed as a writer as a parliamentary reporter. 

Richard Steele and Joseph Addison wrote about cultural matters in their journalistic print titled The Spectator. I find that there are similarities between The Spectator and modern day publications like The New Yorker and The Onion. 

I think the similarities in The New Yorker are that they are thought provoking opinions on cultural The Onion the similarities are that both publications use satire, and indirectly address a cause or person with just enough likeness for the reader to be able to make conclusions. 

matters. With

The modern version of The Spectator is in print in England today. 

Addison and Steele intended for their publication to be inclusive of both genders, which was unique for the time. They also addressed their issues in a non-confrontational, yet matter of fact voice. It is evident that that is still the voice most successful, serious, publications use.

Although important cultural topics like philosophy, religion and politics experienced wide popularity and were used to better the population as a whole, It seems that, just as today, people back then had a morbid curiosity when it came to news. The Bloody Register is described as news concerning stories of criminal activity, exploitation, death speeches, and other accounts of some of the Great Britain’s most famous criminals, men and women. I find that there is just as much curiosity in today’s interest as publications like The National Enquirer are extremely popular.

You can buy a copy of the articles published in England's The Bloody Register from the years 1700 to 1764 for $1,800.00 U.S. Dollars and have it in two days if you have Prime Here !

I enjoy journalistic writing because it is easy to understand. Writing in it can be a bit challenging for those of us who have been writing English papers for years. Because of my scholarly influence, I find that my public voice tends to be formal overall. The main difference is that I keep from using flowery, Latin-root words to make my writing clear and concise when I write journalistically such as when I have done reporting for the Georgia Gwinnett Newspaper The Globe.