Template:Short description Template:About Template:Pp-move Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox newspaper Template:Conservatism UK
The Times is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register, adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times (founded in 1821), are published by Times Media, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, in turn wholly owned by News Corp. The Times and The Sunday Times were founded independently and have had common ownership only since 1966.<ref name="newspaper-history"/> It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Times was the first newspaper to bear that name, inspiring numerous other papers around the world. In countries where these other titles are popular, the newspaper is often referred to as Template:Nowrap<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> or Template:Nowrap,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> although the newspaper is of national scope and distribution.
The Times had an average daily circulation of 365,880 in March 2020; in the same period, The Sunday Times had an average weekly circulation of 647,622.<ref name="PG"/> The two newspapers also had 600,000 digital-only paid subscribers as of September 2024.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> An American edition of The Times has been published since 6 June 2006.<ref name = "Times of London">Template:Cite news</ref> A complete historical file of the digitised paper, up to 2019, is available online from Gale Cengage Learning.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The political position of The Times is considered to be centre-right.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Times and The Sunday Times launched their own radio station, Times Radio, in 2020. Its shows cover news and politics, both nationally and internationally, and had an average weekly reach of 604,000 listeners at the end of 2024.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
HistoryEdit
1785 to 1890Edit
The Times was founded by publisher John Walter (1738–1812) on 1 January 1785 as The Daily Universal Register,<ref name=":0" /> with Walter in the role of editor.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref> Walter had lost his job by the end of 1784 after the insurance company for which he worked went bankrupt due to losses from a Jamaican hurricane. Unemployed, Walter began a new business venture.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":1">Template:Cite EB1911</ref> At that time, Henry Johnson invented the logography, a new typography that was reputedly faster and more precise (although three years later, it was proved less efficient than advertised). Walter bought the logography's patent and, with it, opened a printing house to produce books.<ref name=":1" /> The first publication of The Daily Universal Register was on 1 January 1785. Walter changed the title after 940 editions on 1 January 1788 to The Times.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref name=":1" /> In 1803, Walter handed ownership and editorship to his son of the same name.<ref name=":1" /> Walter Sr's pioneering efforts to obtain Continental news, especially from France, helped build the paper's reputation among policy makers and financiers,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> in spite of a sixteen-month incarceration in Newgate Prison for libels printed in The Times.<ref name=":1" />
The Times used contributions from significant figures in the fields of politics, science, literature, and the arts to build its reputation. For much of its early life, the profits of The Times were very large and the competition minimal, so it could pay far better than its rivals for information or writers. Beginning in 1814, the paper was printed on the new steam-driven cylinder press developed by Friedrich Koenig (1774–1833).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1815, The Times had a circulation of 5,000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Thomas Barnes was appointed general editor in 1817. In the same year, the paper's printer, James Lawson, died and passed the business onto his son, John Joseph Lawson (1802–1852). Under the editorship of Barnes and his successor in 1841, John Thadeus Delane, the influence of The Times rose to great heights, especially in politics and amongst the City of London. Peter Fraser and Edward Sterling were two noted journalists, and gained for The Times the pompous/satirical nickname 'The Thunderer' (from "We thundered out the other day an article on social and political reform."). The increased circulation and influence of the paper were based in part to its early adoption of the steam-driven rotary printing press. Distribution via steam trains to rapidly growing concentrations of urban populations helped ensure the profitability of the paper and its growing influence.<ref>Lomas, Claire. "The Steam Driven Rotary Press, The Times and the Empire Template:Webarchive"</ref>
The Times was one of the first newspapers to send war correspondents to cover particular conflicts. William Howard Russell, the paper's correspondent with the army in the Crimean War, was immensely influential with his dispatches back to England.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
1890 to 1981Edit
The Times faced financial failure in 1890 under Arthur Fraser Walter, but it was rescued by an energetic editor, Charles Frederic Moberly Bell. During his tenure (1890–1911), The Times became associated with selling the Encyclopædia Britannica using aggressive American marketing methods introduced by Horace Everett Hooper and his advertising executive, Henry Haxton. Due to legal fights between the Britannica's two owners, Hooper and Walter Montgomery Jackson, The Times severed its connection in 1908 and was bought by pioneering newspaper magnate, Alfred Harmsworth, later Lord Northcliffe.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In editorials published on 29 and 31 July 1914, Wickham Steed, the Times's Chief Editor, argued that the British Empire should enter World War I.<ref>Ferguson, Niall (1999). The Pity of War London: Basic Books. p. 217. Template:ISBN</ref> On 8 May 1920, also under the editorship of Steed, The Times, in an editorial, endorsed the anti-Semitic fabrication The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion as a genuine document, and called Jews the world's greatest danger. In the leader entitled "The Jewish Peril, a Disturbing Pamphlet: Call for Inquiry", Steed wrote about The Protocols of the Elders of Zion:
What are these 'Protocols'? Are they authentic? If so, what malevolent assembly concocted these plans and gloated over their exposition? Are they forgery? If so, whence comes the uncanny note of prophecy, prophecy in part fulfilled, in part so far gone in the way of fulfillment?".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The following year, when Philip Graves, the Constantinople (modern Istanbul) correspondent of The Times, exposed The Protocols as a forgery,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Times retracted the editorial of the previous year.
In 1922, John Jacob Astor, son of the 1st Viscount Astor, bought The Times from the Northcliffe estate. The paper gained a measure of notoriety in the 1930s with its advocacy of German appeasement; editor Geoffrey Dawson was closely allied with government supporters of appeasement, most notably Neville Chamberlain. Candid news reports by Norman Ebbut from Berlin that warned of Nazi warmongering were rewritten in London to support the appeasement policy.<ref>Gordon Martel, ed. The Times and Appeasement: The Journals of A L Kennedy, 1932–1939 (2000).</ref><ref>Frank McDonough, "The Times, Norman Ebbut and the Nazis, 1927–37." Journal of Contemporary History 27.3 (1992): 407–424.</ref>
Kim Philby, a double agent with primary allegiance to the Soviet Union, was a correspondent for the newspaper in Spain during the Spanish Civil War of the late 1930s. Philby was admired for his courage in obtaining high-quality reporting from the front lines of the bloody conflict. He later joined British Military Intelligence (MI6) during World War II, was promoted into senior positions after the war ended, and defected to the Soviet Union when discovery was inevitable in 1963.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Between 1941 and 1946, the left-wing British historian E. H. Carr was assistant editor. Carr was well known for the strongly pro-Soviet tone of his editorials.<ref>Beloff, Max. "The Dangers of Prophecy" pages 8–10 from History Today, Volume 42, Issue # 9, September 1992 page 9</ref> In December 1944, when fighting broke out in Athens between the Greek Communist ELAS and the British Army, Carr in a Times leader sided with the Communists, leading Winston Churchill to condemn him and the article in a speech to the House of Commons.<ref>Davies, Robert William. "Edward Hallett Carr, 1892–1982" pages 473–511 from Proceedings of the British Academy, Volume 69, 1983 page 489</ref> As a result of Carr's editorial, The Times became popularly known during that stage of World War II as "the threepenny Daily Worker" (the price of the Communist Party's Daily Worker being one penny).<ref>Haslam, Jonathan. "We Need a Faith: E.H. Carr, 1892–1982" pages 36–39 from History Today, Volume 33, August 1983 page 37</ref>
On 3 May 1966, it resumed printing news on the front page; previously, the front page had been given over to small advertisements, usually of interest to the moneyed classes in British society. Also in 1966, the Royal Arms, which had been a feature of the newspaper's masthead since its inception, was abandoned.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn In the same year, members of the Astor family sold the paper to Canadian publishing magnate Roy Thomson. His Thomson Corporation brought it under the same ownership as The Sunday Times to form Times Newspapers Limited.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
An industrial dispute prompted the management to shut down the paper for nearly a year, from 1 December 1978 to 12 November 1979.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The Thomson Corporation management was struggling to run the business due to the 1979 energy crisis and union demands. Management sought a buyer who was in a position to guarantee the survival of both titles, had the resources, and was committed to funding the introduction of modern printing methods.Template:Citation needed
Several suitors appeared, including Robert Maxwell, Tiny Rowland and Lord Rothermere; however, only one buyer was in a position to meet the full Thomson remit, Australian media magnate Rupert Murdoch.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Robert Holmes à Court, another Australian magnate, had previously tried to buy The Times in 1980.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
From 1981Edit
In 1981, The Times and The Sunday Times were bought from Thomson by Rupert Murdoch's News International.<ref name = acquisition>Template:Cite book</ref> The acquisition followed three weeks of intensive bargaining with the unions by company negotiators John Collier and Bill O'Neill. Murdoch gave legal undertakings to maintain separate journalism resources for the two titles.<ref name=BBC2019-04-11>Template:Cite news</ref> The Royal Arms were reintroduced to the masthead at about this time, but whereas previously it had been that of the reigning monarch, it would now be that of the House of Hanover, who were on the throne when the newspaper was founded.Template:Sfn
After 14 years as editor, William Rees-Mogg resigned upon completion of the change of ownership.<ref name = acquisition/> Murdoch began to make his mark on the paper by appointing Harold Evans as his replacement.<ref name="Stewart, p 51">Stewart, p. 51</ref> One of his most important changes was the introduction of new technology and efficiency measures. Between March 1981 and May 1982, following agreement with print unions, the hot-metal Linotype printing process used to print The Times since the 19th century was phased out and replaced by computer input and photocomposition. The Times and the Sunday Times were able to reduce their print room staff by half as a result. However, direct input of text by journalists ("single-stroke" input) was still not achieved, and this was to remain an interim measure until the Wapping dispute of 1986, when The Times moved from New Printing House Square in Gray's Inn Road (near Fleet Street) to new offices in Wapping.<ref>Hamilton, Alan. "The Times bids farewell to old technology". The Times, 1 May 1982, p. 2, col. C.</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Robert Fisk,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> seven times British International Journalist of the Year,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> resigned as foreign correspondent in 1988 over what he saw as "political censorship" of his article on the shooting down of Iran Air Flight 655 in July 1988. He wrote in detail about his reasons for resigning from the paper due to meddling with his stories, and the paper's pro-Israel stance.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In June 1990, The Times ceased its policy of using courtesy titles ("Mr", "Mrs", or "Miss" prefixes) for living persons before full names on the first reference, but it continues to use them before surnames on subsequent references. In 1992, it accepted the use of "Ms" for unmarried women "if they express a preference."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In November 2003, News International began producing the newspaper in both broadsheet and tabloid sizes.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Over the next year, the broadsheet edition was withdrawn from Northern Ireland, Scotland, and the West Country. Since 1 November 2004, the paper has been printed solely in tabloid format.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
On 6 June 2005, The Times redesigned its Letters page, dropping the practice of printing correspondents' full postal addresses. Published letters were long regarded as one of the paper's key constituents. According to its leading article "From Our Own Correspondents", the reason for the removal of full postal addresses was to fit more letters onto the page.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In a 2007 meeting with the House of Lords Select Committee on Communications, which was investigating media ownership and the news, Murdoch stated that the law and the independent board prevented him from exercising editorial control.<ref name=Parliament070917>Template:Cite conference </ref>
In May 2008, printing of The Times switched from Wapping to new plants at Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire, and Merseyside and Glasgow, enabling the paper to be produced with full colour on every page for the first time.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On 26 July 2012, to coincide with the official start of the London 2012 Olympics and the issuing of a series of souvenir front covers, The Times added the suffix "of London" to its masthead.Template:Citation needed
In March 2016, the paper dropped its rolling digital coverage for a series of 'editions' of the paper at 9am, midday, and 5pm on weekdays.<ref name="Rawlinson 2016">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The change also saw a redesign of the paper's app for smartphones and tablets.<ref name="News UK 2016">Template:Cite news</ref>
In April 2018, IPSO upheld a complaint against The Times for its report of a court hearing in a Tower Hamlets fostering case.<ref name="auto1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In April 2019, culture secretary Jeremy Wright said he was minded to allow a request by News UK to relax the legal undertakings given in 1981 to maintain separate journalism resources for The Times and The Sunday Times.<ref name=BBC2019-04-11 /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 2019, IPSO upheld complaints against The Times over their article "GPS data shows container visited trafficking hotspot",<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and for three articles as part of a series on pollution in Britain's waterways: "No river safe for bathing", "Filthy Business", and "Behind the story".<ref name="auto1"/> IPSO also upheld complaints in 2019 against articles headlined "Funding secret of scientists against hunt trophy ban,"<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and "Britons lose out to rush of foreign medical students."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 2019, The Times published an article about Imam Abdullah Patel that wrongly claimed Patel had blamed Israel for the 2003 murder of a British police officer by a terror suspect in Manchester. The story also wrongly claimed that Patel ran a primary school that had been criticised by Ofsted for segregating parents at events, which Ofsted said was contrary to "British democratic principles." The Times settled Patel's defamation claim by issuing an apology and offering to pay damages and legal costs. Patel's solicitor, Zillur Rahman, said the case "highlights the shocking level of journalism to which the Muslim community are often subject".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2019, The Times published an article titled "Female Circumcision is like clipping a nail, claimed speaker". The article featured a photo of Sultan Choudhury beside the headline, leading some readers to incorrectly infer that Choudhury had made the comment. Choudhury lodged a complaint with the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) and sued The Times for libel. In 2020, The Times issued an apology, amended its article, and agreed to pay Choudhury damages and legal costs. Choudhury's solicitor, Nishtar Saleem, said, "This is another example of irresponsible journalism. Publishing sensational excerpts on a 'free site' while concealing the full article behind a paywall is a dangerous game".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In December 2020, Cage and Moazzam Begg received damages of £30,000 plus costs in a libel case they had brought against The Times newspaper. In June 2020, a report in The Times suggested that Cage and Begg were supporting a man who had been arrested in relation to a knife attack in Reading in which three men were murdered. The Times report also suggested that Cage and Begg were excusing the actions of the accused man by mentioning mistakes made by the police and others. In addition to paying damages, The Times printed an apology. Cage stated that the damages amount would be used to "expose state-sponsored Islamophobia and those complicit with it in the press. ... The Murdoch press empire has actively supported xenophobic elements and undermined principles of open society and accountability. ... We will continue to shine a light on war criminals and torture apologists and press barons who fan the flames of hate".<ref name="ms041220">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Long described as Britain’s "newspaper of record", The Times was forced to correct a false article in January 2025 about electric vehicle (EV) sales, following successful complaint to IPSO.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ContentEdit
The Times features news for the first half of the paper; the Opinion/Comment section begins after the first news section, with world news normally following this. The Register, which contains obituaries, a Court & Social section, and related material, follows the business pages on the centre spread. The sports section is at the end of the main paper.
Times2Edit
The TimesTemplate:' main supplement, every day, is times2, featuring various columns.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It was discontinued in early March 2010,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but reintroduced on 12 October 2010 after discontinuation was criticised.<ref name="auto">Template:Cite news</ref> Its regular features include a puzzles section called Mind Games. Its previous incarnation began on 5 September 2005, before which it was called T2 and previously Times 2.<ref name="auto"/> The supplement contains arts and lifestyle features, TV and radio listings, and theatre reviews. The newspaper employs Richard Morrison as its classical music critic.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The GameEdit
The Game is included in the newspaper on Mondays, and details all the weekend's football activity (Premier League and Football League Championship, League One and League Two.) The Scottish edition of The Game also includes results and analysis from Scottish Premier League games. During the FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euros, there is a daily supplement of The Game.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Saturday supplementsEdit
The Saturday edition of The Times contains a variety of supplements.
Beginning on 5 July 2003 (issue 67807)<ref name=":3">Template:Cite magazine Located in: Template:Cite news</ref> and ending after 17 January 2009 (issue 69535),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":4">Template:Cite news</ref> Saturday issues of The Times came with a weekly magazine called TheKnowledge containing listings for the upcoming week (from that Saturday to the next Friday) compiled by PA Arts & Leisure<ref>Template:Cite magazine Located in: Template:Cite news</ref> (part of Press Association Ltd<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>).Template:Primary source inline Its taglines include "Your pocket guide to what's on in London",<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> "The World's Greatest City, Cut Down To Size",<ref name=":3" /> and "Your critical guide to the cultural week".<ref>Template:Cite magazine Located in: Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
These supplements were relaunched on 24 January 2009 as: Sport, Saturday Review (arts, books, TV listings, and ideas), Weekend (including travel and lifestyle features), Playlist (an entertainment listings guide), and The Times Magazine (columns on various topics).<ref name="newspaper-history">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":4" />
The Times MagazineEdit
The Times Magazine features columns touching on various subjects such as celebrities, fashion and beauty, food and drink, homes and gardens, or simply writers' anecdotes. Notable contributors include Giles Coren, Food and Drink Writer of the Year in 2005 and Nadiya Hussain, winner of The Great British Bake Off.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Online presenceEdit
Template:Redirect The Times and The Sunday Times have had an online presence since 1996, originally at the-times.co.uk and sunday-times.co.uk, and later at timesonline.co.uk and thetimes.co.uk. Both papers are now hosted on thetimes.com. There are also iOS and Android editions of both newspapers available in the same app, The Times: UK & World News. Both papers are also hosted in the Classic app, a purpose-built tablet-only application. Since July 2010, News UK has required readers who do not subscribe to the print edition to pay £2 per week to read The Times and The Sunday Times online.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Visits to the websites decreased by 87% after the paywall was introduced in October 2010, from 21 million unique users per month to 2.7 million one month later<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>. In November 2024, thetimes.com site had a readership of 103 million<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>. In October 2011, there were around 111,000 subscribers to The Times' digital products<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>, which increased to 600,000 digital subscribers by September 2024.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A Reuters Institute survey in 2024 ranked The Times as having the ninth highest trust rating out of 15 different outlets polled<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>.
The Times Digital Archive is available by subscription.
The Wikipedia community considers The Times and The Sunday Times to be generally reliable sources.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
OwnershipEdit
The Times has had the following eight owners since its foundation in 1785:<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- 1785 to 1803: John Walter
- 1803 to 1847: John Walter, 2nd
- 1847 to 1894: John Walter III
- 1894 to 1908: Arthur Fraser Walter
- 1908 to 1922: Lord Northcliffe
- 1922 to 1966: Astor family
- 1966 to 1981: Roy Thomson
- 1981 to present: News UK (formerly News International, a wholly owned subsidiary of News Corp, run by Rupert Murdoch)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- John walter.jpg
John Walter, the founder of The Times
- John Walter II.jpg
- John Walter 1818–1894.jpg
- British newspaper and publishing magnate Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe.jpg
- Roy Thomson Cropped.jpg
- Rupert Murdoch - Flickr - Eva Rinaldi Celebrity and Live Music Photographer.jpg
ReadershipEdit
The Times had a circulation of 70,405 on 5 September 1870, due to a reduction in price and the Franco-Prussian War.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Times had a circulation of 150,000 in March 1914, due to a reduction in price.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Times had a circulation of 248,338 in 1958, a circulation of 408,300 in 1968, and a circulation of 295,863 in 1978.<ref name=MediaGuide2001p58>Steve Peak and Paul Fisher (eds). The Media Guide 2001. (The Guardian Media Guide 2001). Ninth Annual Edition. Mathew Clayton. 2000. ISBN 1841154237. p 58.</ref> At the time of Harold Evans' appointment as editor in 1981, The Times had an average daily sale of 282,000 copies in comparison to the 1.4 million daily sales of its traditional rival, The Daily Telegraph.<ref name="Stewart, p 51"/> By 1988, The Times had a circulation of 443,462.<ref name=MediaGuide2001p58/> By November 2005, The Times sold an average of 691,283 copies per day, the second-highest of any British "quality" newspaper (after The Daily Telegraph, which had a circulation of 903,405 copies in the period), and the highest in terms of full-rate sales.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By March 2014, average daily circulation of The Times had fallen to 394,448 copies,<ref name="circ">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> compared to The Daily Telegraph's 523,048,<ref name="Telegraph">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> with the two retaining respectively the second-highest and highest circulations among British "quality" newspapers. In contrast, The Sun, the highest-selling "tabloid" daily newspaper in the United Kingdom, sold an average of 2,069,809 copies in March 2014,<ref name=TheSun>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the Daily Mail, the highest-selling "middle market" British daily newspaper, sold an average of 1,708,006 copies in the period.<ref name=DMail>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Sunday Times has significantly higher circulation than The Times, and sometimes outsells The Sunday Telegraph. In January 2019, The Times had a circulation of 417,298<ref name=ABC>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and The Sunday Times 712,291.<ref name=ABC />
In a 2009 national readership survey, The Times was found to have the highest number of ABC1 25–44 readers and the largest number of readers in London of any of the "quality" papers.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
TypefaceEdit
The Times is the originator of the widely used Times New Roman typeface, originally developed by Stanley Morison of The Times in collaboration with Monotype Imaging for its legibility in low-tech printing. In November 2006, The Times began printing headlines in a new typeface, Times Modern. The Times was printed in broadsheet format for 219 years, but switched to compact size in 2004 in an attempt to appeal more to younger readers and commuters using public transport. The Sunday Times remains a broadsheet.
In 1908, The Times started using the Monotype Modern typeface.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The Times commissioned the serif typeface Times New Roman, created by Victor Lardent at the English branch of Monotype, in 1931.<ref name="loxley">Template:Cite book</ref> It was commissioned after Stanley Morison had written an article criticising The Times for being badly printed and typographically antiquated.<ref name="oxdnb">Template:Cite book</ref> Victor Lardent, an artist from The Times' advertising department, created the typeface under Morison's supervision. Morison used an older typeface named Plantin as the basis for his design but made revisions for legibility and economy of space. Times New Roman made its debut in the issue of 3 October 1932.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After one year, the design was released for commercial sale. The Times stayed with Times New Roman for 40 years, but new production techniques and the format change from broadsheet to tabloid in 2004 have caused the newspaper to switch typeface five times since 1972. However, all the new typeface have been variants of the original New Roman type:
- Times Europa was designed by Walter Tracy in 1972 for The Times, as a sturdier alternative to the Times font family, designed for the demands of faster printing presses and cheaper paper. The typeface features more open counter spaces.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Times Roman replaced Times Europa on 30 August 1982.<ref name="Driver2006">Template:Cite news</ref>
- Times Millennium was made in 1991,<ref name="Driver2006" /> drawn by Gunnlaugur Briem on the instructions of Aurobind Patel, composing manager of News International.
- Times Classic first appeared in 2001.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> Designed as an economical face by the British-type team of Dave Farey and Richard Dawson, it took advantage of the new PC-based publishing system at the newspaper while obviating the production shortcomings of its predecessor, Times Millennium. The new typeface included 120 letters per font. Initially, the family comprised ten fonts, but a condensed version was added in 2004.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Times Modern was unveiled on 20 November 2006, as the successor of Times Classic.<ref name="Driver2006" /> Designed for improving legibility in smaller font sizes, it uses 45-degree angled bracket serifs. Ben Preston, the deputy editor of The Times, and designer Neville Brody led Research Studios in creating the typeface, which Elsner + Flake published as EF Times Modern.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Political alignmentEdit
Historically, the paper was not overtly pro-Tory or Whig, but has been a long time bastion of the British Establishment and Empire. In 1959, the historian of journalism Allan Nevins analysed the importance of The Times in shaping the views of events of London's elite, writing:
For much more than a century The Times has been an integral and important part of the political structure of Great Britain. Its news and its editorial comment have in general been carefully coordinated, and have at most times been handled with an earnest sense of responsibility. While the paper has admitted some trivia to its columns, its whole emphasis has been on important public affairs treated with an eye to the best interests of Britain. To guide this treatment, the editors have for long periods been in close touch with 10 Downing Street.<ref>Allan Nevins, "American Journalism and Its Historical Treatment", Journalism Quarterly (1959) 36#4 pp 411–22</ref>
The Times adopted a stance described as "peculiarly detached" at the 1945 general election; although it was increasingly critical of the Conservative Party's campaign, it did not advocate a vote for any one party.<ref>R. B. McCallum and Alison Readman, The British General Election of 1945, Oxford University Press, 1947, p. 181–2.</ref> However, the newspaper reverted to the Conservatives for the next election five years later. It supported the Conservatives for the subsequent three elections, followed by support for both the Conservatives and the Liberal Party for the next five elections, expressly supporting a Con-Lib coalition in 1974. The paper then backed the Conservatives solidly until 1997, when it declined to make any party endorsement but supported individual (primarily Eurosceptic) candidates.<ref>David Butler and Dennis Kavanagh, "The British General Election of 1997", Macmillan, London, 1997, p. 156.</ref>
For the 2001 general election, The Times declared its support for Tony Blair's Labour government, which was re-elected by a landslide (although not as large as in 1997). It supported Labour again in 2005, when Labour achieved a third successive win, though with a reduced majority.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2004, according to MORI, the voting intentions of its readership were 40% for the Conservative Party, 29% for the Liberal Democrats, and 26% for Labour.<ref name="MORI survey">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> For the 2010 general election, the newspaper declared its support for the Conservatives once again; the election ended in the Tories taking the most votes and seats but having to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats in order to form a government as they had failed to gain an overall majority.<ref name = uk>Template:Cite news</ref>
Its changes in political alignment make it the most varied newspaper in terms of political support in British history.<ref name = uk/> Some columnists in The Times are connected to the Conservative Party, such as Daniel Finkelstein, Tim Montgomerie, Matthew Parris, and Matt Ridley, but there are also columnists connected to the Labour Party, such as David Aaronovitch and Jenni Russell.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Times occasionally makes endorsements for foreign elections. In November 2012, it endorsed a second term for Democrat Barack Obama, although it also expressed reservations about his foreign policy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
During the 2019 Conservative leadership election, The Times endorsed Boris Johnson<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and subsequently endorsed the Conservative Party in the general election of that year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2022, Tony Gallagher was appointed to replace John Witherow, who had served nine years as editor. A former Sun editor, Gallagher enthusiastically backed Brexit during the 2016 EU referendum. According to The Guardian, "The Times' readership is split politically, with journalists at the outlet speculating on how Gallagher will shape the paper's editorial line as the prospect of a Labour government became more likely (in 2024)."<ref name="Waterson 2022">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Times did not endorse any political party at the 2024 general election. In its leader article, it stated that Labour “cannot expect an endorsement” as it had “yet to earn the trust of the British people” and had been “sparing with the truth about what it will do in office”.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
SponsorshipsEdit
The Times, along with the British Film Institute, sponsored the BFI London Film Festival from 2003 to 2009.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It also sponsors the Cheltenham Literature Festival and the Asia House Festival of Asian Literature at Asia House, London.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
EditorsEdit
- John Walter 1785 to 1803
- John Walter, Jnr 1803 to 1812
- Sir John Stoddart 1812 to 1816
- Thomas Barnes 1817 to 1841
- John Thadeus Delane 1841 to 1877
- Thomas Chenery 1877 to 1884
- George Earle Buckle 1884 to 1912
- George Geoffrey Dawson 1912 to 1919
- George Sydney Freeman 1919 (two-month 'inter-regnum')<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Henry Wickham Steed 1919 to 1922
- George Geoffrey Dawson1923 to 1941
- Robert McGowan Barrington-Ward 1941 to 1948
- William Francis Casey 1948 to 1952
- Sir William John Haley 1952 to 1966
- William Rees-Mogg 1967 to 1981
- Harold Evans 1981 to 1982
- Charles Douglas-Home 1982 to 1985
- Charles Wilson 1985 to 1990
- Simon Jenkins 1990 to 1992
- Peter Stothard 1992 to 2002
- Robert Thomson 2002 to 2007
- James Harding 2007 to 2012
- John Witherow 2013 to 2022
- Tony Gallagher 2022 to date
Related publicationsEdit
An Irish digital edition of the paper was launched in September 2015 at TheTimes.ie.<ref name="Marketing.ie 2018">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A print edition was launched in June 2017, replacing the international edition previously distributed in Ireland.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Irish edition was set to close in June 2019 with the loss of 20 jobs.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The Times Literary Supplement (TLS) first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to The Times, becoming a separately paid-for weekly literature and society magazine in 1914.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The TLS is owned and published by News International and co-operates closely with The Times, with its online version hosted on The Times website, and its editorial offices based in 1 London Bridge Street, London.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Between 1951 and 1966, The Times published a separately paid-for quarterly science review, The Times Science Review. The Times started a new, free, monthly science magazine, Eureka, in October 2009.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The magazine closed in October 2012.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Times Review of Industry<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> (which began in 1947)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and Technology (which began in 1957)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> merged in March 1963<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> to become The Times Review of Industry & Technology.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> From 1952, The Times Review of Industry included the London and Cambridge Economic Bulletin.<ref>Carter and Roy, British Economic Statistics, 1954, p 169 Template:Webarchive. Cairncross, Austin Robinson: The Life of an Economic Adviser, p 125 Template:Webarchive.</ref>
Times Atlases have been produced since 1895. The Collins Bartholomew imprint of HarperCollins Publishers is currently responsible for producing them. The flagship product is The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 1971, The Times began publishing the Times Higher Education Supplement (now known as the Times Higher Education) which focuses its coverage on tertiary education.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Historical valueEdit
In 1915, R P Farley said "the files of the Times must be constantly studied" as an authority for the political and social history of the English people during the period from the Reform Bill 1832 to the Education Act 1870 (1832 to 1870).<ref>R P Farley. "Authorities" in "A Political and Social Survey of the Period from 1815-1914". Chapter 2. John Richard Green. A Short History of the English People. Green's Short History of the English People: with Introduction and Notes by L Cecil Jane and a Survey of the Period 1815-1914 by R P Farley. (Everyman's Library). J M Dent & Sons. London and Toronto. E P Dutton & Co. New York. October 1915. Reprinted December 1915. Volume 2. Page 804.</ref> From 1971 to 1973, John Joseph Bagley said The Times is "valuable" as a source of nineteenth-century English history<ref>J J Bagley. "Historical Interpretation 2: Sources of English History: 1540 to the Present Day". Historical Interpretation. St Martin's Press. New York. 1973. [Date of authorship is 1972.] Volume 2 Template:Webarchive. Page 275. (The value of The Times (and other newspapers) for the study of Nineteenth Century history is discussed further on pages 273 to 276 and 281.)</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and that the annual index to The Times is useful for the twentieth century.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 2003, Richard Krzys said The Times is very reliable as a source of history.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 2016, Denise Bates said The Times is "indispensable" as a source for historical events of national importance.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In 2019, James Oldham said The Times is an important source for nisi prius trials.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 2015, Johnston and Plummer said that The Times is an important source for music reviews.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In popular cultureEdit
In the dystopian future world of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Times has been transformed into an organ of the totalitarian ruling party.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The book's lead character, Winston Smith is employed to rewrite past issues of the newspaper for the Ministry of Truth.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Rex Stout's fictional detective, Nero Wolfe is described as fond of solving the London TimesTemplate:' crossword puzzle at his New York home, in preference to those of American papers.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In the James Bond series by Ian Fleming, James Bond reads The Times. As described by Fleming in From Russia, with Love, The Times was "the only paper that Bond ever read."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
Further readingEdit
- Bingham, Adrian. "The Times Digital Archive, 1785–2006 (Gale Cengage)", English Historical Review (2013) 128#533 pp. 1037–1040. {{#invoke:doi|main}}
- Template:Cite book – includes sections of black-and-white photographic plates, plus a few charts and diagrams in text pages.
- Merrill, John C. and Harold A. Fisher. The world's great dailies: profiles of fifty newspapers (1980) pp. 320–29.
- Morison, Stanley. The History of the Times: Volume 1: The Thunderer" in the Making 1785–1841. Volume 2: The Tradition Established 1841–1884. Volume 3: The Twentieth Century Test 1884–1912. Volume 4 [published in two parts]:The 150th Anniversary and Beyond 1912–1948. (1952)
- Riggs, Bruce Timothy. "Geoffrey Dawson, editor of "The Times" (London), and his contribution to the appeasement movement" (PhD dissertation, U of North Texas, 1993) online, bibliography pp 229–33.
External linksEdit
Template:Sister project Template:Sister project Template:Sister project
- Template:Official website
- Times (London, England) Collection at the Harry Ransom Center
- Template:Internet Archive author (archives)
- Template:Librivox author
- Anthony Trollope's satire on the mid-nineteenth century Times
- Journalism Now: The Times – Winchester University Journalism History project on The Times in the 19th century
- Times World Atlases official website including a History and Heritage section detailing landmark Times atlases
- Archive from 1785 to 2008 – full text and original layout, searchable (not free of charge, registration required)
- Template:Cite news
- The Times editor Robert Thomson lecture online: From the editorial desk of The Times, RMIT School of Applied Communication Public Lecture series
Template:The Times Template:News UK Template:Media in the United Kingdom