The Press: Britain's Newspapers

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Significance. All these things are rapidly changing the character of the British press. Not only are papers getting flimsy: there has been talk of upping penny papers to 1½d. As a defense against the newsletters, at least seven British papers now feature dope columns, described by Us as a compound of "spy-stuff, gossip, and the Vicar's letter in the parish magazine." There are even whispers that the Times, after 155 years, may print no advertising on its front page—a change already made by the Daily Mail.

Other possible consequences may be even more lasting: permanent loss of public confidence in the press (shaken four years ago when for months no British paper mentioned the friendship between Edward VIII and Mrs. Simpson); financial ruin for great British papers and publishers.