Lord Northcliffe... The British Hearst?

In this week's seminar, we discussed the life and achievements of Alfred Harmsworth. The first of Britain's great newspaper barons, he incorporated into his considerable empire both the Daily Mail and more upmarket The Times newspapers, around the turn of the 20th Century. He gained peerage in 1905 and the new title, by which he is more commonly known, Lord Northcliffe.

Perhaps one of his more notable papers is one of his own creation, namely the Daily Mirror, founded as an offshoot to the Mail and originally written by and for women. In its youth, Northcliffe's new paper struggled with circulation and very soon became 'the laughing stock of Fleet Street', as described in Chris Horrie's Tabloid Nation. The owner quickly scrapped the women's newspaper, re-modelling it as the Daily Illustrated Mirror; a piece of journalism that could be read by men on the move, either on their way to work in the mornings, or while sitting down to lunch in the afternoons.

It saw the birth of what has become known as 'photojournalism', utilising the new technology of cameras to encapture news stories in a way that had never been done before. It was described as journalism that would avoid 'mental paroxysm'; Northcliffe was thus effectively aiming his increasingly successful creation at the illiterate working classes. He hired Hannen Swaffer as pictorial editor, a media-driven man with a ruthless competitive edge, seemingly unwilling to allow morals to impede his pursuit of a juicy story. He printed the first photos of the deceased Edward VII at his funeral, while he ran an exclusive edition of images depicting the Titanic, upon the sinking of the luxury liner.

The new fad of photojournailsm became intoxicating to the country, as millions of amateur photos were sent into Swaffer's office, all looking to gain some easy profit. It was the new craze, perhaps seen as Harry Potter-style, moving images might be perceived in today's, modern newspapers.

For a time, Lord Northcliffe would have appeared to have saved his floundering baby. However, in 1913, he sold it (now reverted back to its former title) to brother, Harold, later Lord Rothermere. Northcliffe wished to elevate his standing in society, in order to have greater political influence, (though he never aspired to become Prime Minister), thus severing his connections to the sensationalist tabloid. Here I believe to be the difference between him and his American counterpart, Hearst. While the New York-based journalist was driven solely by his publishing company and its stories, Northcliffe had alterior motives in gaining more power within the House of Lords. Indeed, the title of ruthless 'bad boy' at the Mirror belonged to Swaffer.

The younger Harmsworth, Rothermere, having inherited the empire, also used the papers to gain his own political leverage, promoting far-right rallies and movements that verged on the fascist, even threatening an allegiance with the growing Nazi agenda. By such time, the Daily Mirror itself was beginning to struggle again, losing the battle in 'free giveaways' that had been initiated by the Daily Herald and Daily Express. It would not be until Rothermere's removal that the paper would experience its second revival.

Although the Harmsworths were as close to a British 'Hearst equivalent' as there was, it seems clear that they did not possess the same business acumen in later life, or the hunger, that made the American so successful. All three men were certainly powerful though; proof that power in all forms would seem to corrupt...