Worlds 1st regular daily paper 'The Courant' published
St Pauls, London The 11th of March 1702 AD
There had been regular newspapers before The Daily Courant, one of which - The Courant, published first in 1621 - nearly shares its name.
The paper was started by Edward Mallet, and the first edition consisted of one sheet, divided into two columns, publicising itself as a source of factual news without comment by those producing it.
Fittingly the paper first saw the light of day in Fleet Street - Mallet gave his address as 'against the Ditch at Fleet Street'. Even more fittingly it was produced in rooms above a pub, the White Hart.
In spite of changes of ownership and a brush with Parliament in April 1712 for the heinous crime of publishing details of debates there, The Daily Courant continued in print until 1735, when it was swallowed up by a competitor, The Daily Gazetteer, possibly on government orders.
The Daily Courant helped to establish the principal of regular news provision, the first in a long line that has ended with rolling 24 hour news channels. It is sad though that such media are so separated from the people they seek to inform, unlike The Daily Courant - there are surely few better places to get a feel for public sentiment than in a pub.
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