Journalism In Reading

It was announced this week that the last vestige of Reading’s final daily newspaper is being shuttered by its operators.

Berkshire Live is to close at the end of November 2023, having faced previous iterations as getReading and getBerkshire, and previous to that as the Reading Post and Reading Evening Post.

So, this seems a good point to take a look at the history of journalism in Reading and ask: ‘where from here ?’.

The history of local newspapers in Reading dates back to the 18th century. The first newspaper to be published in the town was the Reading Mercury (or Weekly Entertainer), first issued on Monday 8th July 1723 and founded by the then mayor of Reading, John Watts, whose grave can be found in St Lawrence’s graveyard behind the town hall.

The Mercury was a weekly newspaper that covered national news, events, and advertisements. It was published until 1958, when it was merged with the Reading Post.

The Post itself was founded in 1856 as the Reading Standard, a daily newspaper. The Post was published until 2014, when it ceased publication in print and became an online-only newspaper.

The third major local newspaper established in Reading was the Reading Chronicle, which was founded in 1860. The Chronicle is a weekly newspaper that covers local news, events, and advertisements and is, of course, still published today despite passing through several owners over the years.

Simon Edgley was the Regional |Director of Reach plc (then Trinity Mirror) when the decision was made to close the print paper in 2014. He is now a Director of inReading's parent company and comments on the news that Berkshire Live is being shuttered by Reach:

The good news is that a new printed newspaper appeared last year. In October 2021 the recently launched Wokingham Today, edited by former Post features editor Phil Creighton, launched a sister title, Reading Today, with an online site at the rather awkwardly named RDG.Today (ah the traumas of finding a URL, or indeed any online handle, when your name is the present participle of a very common verb).

However, at the same time, the BBC has shuttered its Caversham House regional office and has downgraded BBC Berkshire, whilst still providing some coverage for stories from the town.

So why this reversal in fortunes from a time when Reading could support multiple daily newspapers to the situation today ? 

The answer is a simple one – the internet and the rise of global advertising giants such as Google (Alphabet) and Facebook (Meta). Local publishers have to depend on these organisations to both drive traffic from their massive portals and to deliver advertising revenue using their bespoke platforms.

The results have been cost cuts and closures and a huge pressure on local journalism. Standards for local journalism in Reading fell to a new low this year when a local paper started using AI chatbots to generate inaccurate stories, including making up fish and chip shops that don’t exist, although by now the Chronicle and Today produce a reliable and well produced stream of daily news stories covering all aspects of life in our town that you can follow daily from inReading.

The Chronicle, which is the last historical newspaper publishing a print edition in Reading, having been established in 1855, it nowadays owned by American media giant Gannett via their U.K. Newsquest subsidiary. Reading Today, meanwhile, is independently owned and operated as a social enterprise.

Journalism in Reading fights on thanks to the work and dedication of a very hard working band of local journalists and we at inReading hope that we can harness the abilities of local people to generate more community orientated content whilst supporting professional journalists and content producers.

If you want to contribute to inReading, you can do so here (membership required).

Resources

You can find archives and copies of many local Reading newspapers here:  https://berksfhs.org/info/research-guides/berkshire-newspapers/

A full history of the Mercury can be found here. 

And a very comprehensive history of local journalism can be found in this thesis by AT Watts of the University of Stirling (yes all the way up in Scotland - there must be a story there…but that’s for another day)

You can read copies of old newspapers at Reading Central Library on Kings Road: https://www.genuki.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/images/big/eng/BRK/RCLLocalFactsheet10Newspapers.pdf

History of Printed Newspapers in Reading

The town and its wider area has hosted a great number of publications down the years, including:

The Reading Mercury, or, Weekly Entertainer 1723-1725, continued as The Reading Mercury and Oxford Gazette, etc. 1767-1831, continued as Reading Mercury, Oxford Gazette and Berkshire County Paper, etc 1831-1839, continued as Reading Mercury, Oxford Gazette, Newsbury Herald and Berks County Paper, etc. 1839-1960, continued as Reading Mercury, etc. 1960-1970, continued as Berkshire Mercury 1970-1979.

The Reading Journal 1737-1740, continued as The Reading Journal, or, Weekly Review 1744-1748

Berkshire Chronicle 1825-1912, continued as Berkshire Daily Chronicle 1912-1914, continued as Berkshire Chronicle 1914-1961, continued as Reading and Berkshire Chronicle 1961-1965, continued as Reading Chronicle 1965-today.

Berks Telegraph 1869-1973, subsequently incorporated with Reading Observer

The Reading Examiner, Windsor and Eton Herald, and Berkshire County Chronicle 1872-1874
Berkshire Weekly News 1872
Reading Observer, Berks Telegraph, and Bucks, Hants, Oxfordshire and Surrey Newspaper 1873-1878, continued as Reading Observer 1878-1924

Reading Express and Berkshire Independent, 1879-1884

The Wag 1889 subsequently discontinued

The Bellman, and Royal County’s Commentator for Reading, etc. 1891

The North Berks Standard 1906

The Reading & County Times 1909-1910 subsequently discontinued

Reading Record 1912-1913 subsequently discontinued

The Caversham Observer 1923-1924

Reading Citizen 1924-1952
The Reading Co-operator 1932-1935 subsequently discontinued

Reading Review 1935-1949, continued as Reading & Berkshire Review 1949-1953, continued as Berkshire & Reading Review 1954

Evening Gazette 1935-1938, continued as Reading Gazette 1939

Berkshire Co-operative Leader 1939-1940

Berkshire Chronicle (Country edition) 1947-1961, continued as Reading and Berkshire Chronicle 1961-1965, continued as Reading Chronicle 1965-1967 
subsequently discontinued

Evening Post 1965-1994, continued as Reading Evening Post 1994-2014