The Westminster Gazette
| Type | Daily |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Editor |
E. T. Cook (1893–1896) J. A. Spender (1896–1921) J. B. Hobman (1921–1928) |
| Founded | 31 January 1893 |
| Political alignment | Liberal |
| Language | English |
| Ceased publication | 31 January 1928 |
| Headquarters | London, England |
| Circulation | 20,000 |
The Westminster Gazette was an influential Liberal newspaper based in London. It was known for publishing sketches and short stories, including early works by Raymond Chandler, Anthony Hope, D. H. Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield, and Saki, and travel writing by Rupert Brooke. One of its editors was caricaturist and political cartoonist Francis Carruthers Gould.
The paper was started by E. T. Cook on 31 January 1893. Cook served as editor until 1896, when he resigned his position to take over as editor of the Liberal The Daily News. Though a number of prominent individuals applied to succeed him, the owner of The Westminster Gazette, George Newnes, decided to offer the editorship to J. A. Spender, then only thirty-three years of age. Though Spender himself was modest about his prospects, his selection was met with approval by many in the Liberal ranks, including the head of the party Lord Rosebery.
Under Spender's direction, The Westminster Gazette became a "clubland paper" whose target reader was a gentleman relaxing in his club between work and the night's social events. As such it had a tiny market, with circulations on a scale that modern-day political blogs might hope to exceed. The 1949 Royal Commission on the Press estimates that a typical clubland paper sold "about 5,000" a day in the 19th century; the newspaper designer and historian Allen Hutt suggests "an average of no more than around 20,000 at best". Like political blogs, clubland papers could rely on the amplifying effect of a link economy. In The Rise and Fall of the Political Press in Britain, Stephen Koss puts it from the point of view of Spender: "The stature of a journal was measured by the gratitude it received from those whom it praised, the resentment it incurred from those whom it censured, and 'above all' – according to J. A. Spender – by the number of lesser journals that duplicated its contents."
...
Wikipedia