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‘The repeal of the ‘taxes on knowledge’ in the mid nineteenth
century led to a free press in Britain
...
’
The ‘taxes on knowledge’ were highly prominent in the British press, until the main taxes –
advertisement duty, stamp duty and paper duty were gradually phased out, climaxing with
the abolition of the paper duty in 1861
...
This essay also
argues that the repeal of the ‘taxes on knowledge’ played more of a part in press expansion
than freedom, as it created competition within the press, in turn increasing literacy rates
and educating the lower class
...
The radical
press was an example of how the British press was already free even before the repeal of
these taxes, as it had no “censorship” and could essentially discuss any topics affecting its
primary readers – the working class
...
The sheer power
and scale of the success of the radical press at its peak is reflected in the circulation figures
for just two of Britain’s most popular radical publications; ​
Northern Star​ ​
and Reynolds News
– presuming each edition reached ten readers per copy, each publication was thought to
have a readership of 500,000
...
Specific figures aside, the radical press was described as
“an extra parliamentary force” (Curran, Seaton); taxes were introduced in an attempt to
eliminate the power of the radical press, but were unsuccessful
...
It could be argued that the repeal of taxes actually made the
press ​ ​ as it contributed to a rapid decline in radical press
...
However, it is also interpreted that the decline of radical press was due
to a “change in the climate of public opinion” (Curran, Seaton: 2010: 23)
...
The power and presentation of the press in this
manner is depicted by John Delane, who noted “the first duty of the press is to obtain the
earliest and most correct intelligence of the events of the time, and instantly, by disclosing
them, to make them the common property of the nation” (Steed: 1938: 75)
...
From 1834 there was also an official Press Gallery
 

 

created within Parliament (Williams: 2010: 104), enhancing use of this repeal on the ban of
parliamentary reporting; as a result providing accuracy and a widened sense of knowledge
and parliamentary context for readers
...

was
During this period the press received a large amount of criticism, including from political
essayist William Hazlitt who, in 1823, described ​ Times​ “valiant, swaggering, insolent,
The
as
with 100,000 readers at its heels” (Williams: 2010: 108)
...
Prime Minister Russell declared that the “degree of
information possessed by ​ Times ​ regards to the most secret affairs of the State
The
with
(was)…mortifying, humiliating and incomprehensible” (Williams: 2010: 109)
...

Though the repeal of ‘taxes on knowledge’ may have only had a small part in press freedom,
it did play a more significant role in press expansion
...
The content of the publications themselves altered
after the tax repeal - Ralph Negrine described “the commercialism of the press…effect of
advertising…trend to sensationalism…the reduction of political coverage” (Negrine: 1994:
39)
...
If the publication was of a good quality, advertisers sought to be featured as they
knew they would be shown to a large circulation of upper-class readers
...
The
repeal on taxes also led to the price of publications decreasing, meaning more social classes
gained access to newspapers
...
It was also suggested that the whole reason
for the taxes in the first place was to “restrict circulation to the rich and more “reliable” of
the public” (Brown: 1992: 25)
...
Literacy rates drastically improved – going from 69% of adults being able to write their
name in 1850, to 97% in 1900 – and general literature reached “the nation through all its
ranks” (Williams: 1970: 16)
...
However, without the repeal of the ‘taxes on
 

 

 

knowledge’ all of these technologies would still have been available, but the press would
not have expanded nearly as much
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Word count (not including Bibliography): 1317 words

BIBLIOGRAPHY
● Brown, Lucy, (1992) ​ British Press, 1800-1860​ Griffiths, Dennis (ed
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● Chalaby, Jean K
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Palgrave Macmillan:
Basingstoke
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​ London
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Routledge: London
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Routledge:
London
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2
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● Griffiths, Dennis (2002) ​ Years of Fleet Sreet​
300

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● Hollis, P
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Oxford University Press: London
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​
Routledge: London
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W
...
​
The
Penguin: Harmondsworth
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thefreedictionary
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● Williams, Kevin (2010) ​ All About It! A History of the British Newspaper​
Read

...

● Williams, R (1970) ​
Radical and/or respectable​ Boston, R (ed

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