It was a favourite saying in the nineteenth century, and early twentieth, that the press had replaced the pulpit. As one young writer put it in the 1930s: Journalism in fact fulfilled one of the func­tions of a church. Writers of the time frequently referred to this aspect of it, and according to their biographies…

In case you’re not a subscriber to the excellent Economic Principals (EP), here is a little silver anniversary wisdom from its proprietor, David Warsh. His topic? The conflicts of interest that surface in substituting professionals for reporters: Everyone knows that the newspaper business is shrinking, but the implications haven’t been sufficiently examined. To cope, papers…

Buried in the Office of Fair Trading’s report National Newspapers: A review of undertakings relating to the supply of national newspapers in England and Wales are some interesting nuggets.