The Rise of the New Journalism

The 1880s marked a pivotalNew Journalism moment in the development of the popular press, with the arrival of the New Journalism paving the way for the mass-market populism of the century that followed. Although the New Journalism brought with it a greater emphasis on attractive layouts and a prioritisation of the visual, illustration was already firmly embedded within Victorian print culture, where it ranged from the cultural respectability of Punch’s comic journalism to the sensationalism of the Illustrated Police News. Around the middle of the 1880s, this tradition began to blend with the new populist ethos, in which brevity, accessibility and an appealing visual style were becoming central to the offerings of titles such as Tit-Bits and the Pall Mall Gazette. Towards the end of the decade, the political cartoon, which had hitherto been particularly aligned with comic journalism began to transition across into the evening newspaper market. Spearheaded by the work of F.C Gould for the Pall Mall Budget and the Pall Mall Gazette, this development represented a key developmental milestone in the evolutionary journey towards the daily newspaper strip.