From hot metal to the Internet — how the methods we use to deliver news have been transformed
In the week before the big switch from broadsheet to compact, John Chipperfield and Reg Little look back at the history of The Oxford Times
For nearly 150 years The Oxford Times has been reporting news from a fast-changing county. Next week The Oxford Times will itself see quite a transformation of its own as the newspaper switched from a broadsheet to a new compact format For a newspaper that came into existence in 1862 the change can be counted as truly historic. It marks a major departure on a journey that began mid-way through the reign of Queen Victoria, when Viscount Palmerston was in Downing Street The story of The Oxford Times is certainly part of the city s own history. And while hardly as dramatic a many of the events that we have chronicled down the decades, it is a story that has certainly involved power struggles, forceful personalities and a determination t move with the times.
It is a story that began with more than a few raised eyebrows in Oxford, when Joseph Plowman announced that he was launching The Oxford Time in 1862 as a eight page weekly costing 2d.
At that time the city and surrounding district wa already well served by the two existing newspapers, the Oxford Chronicle and the Oxford Journal.
But Plowman decided to try his luck and appears t have been reasonably successful in those critical earl years Oxford had always been Liberal. But The Oxford Time and Midland Counties Advertise r , as it was initially called, was at the beginning intent on showing itself t be an independent commercial venture, with no political allegiance.
It appeared with the following announcement:
"We belong to no party as a party; we by no means pin our faith to any set of men, or any dogmatic formularies of political action, and with every disposition and intention t support the great Constitutional Party of England, both in Church and State, we are by no means prepared to pledge that support through thick and thin and under all or an circumstances, but while upholding to the utmost extent of our means the Protestant and established religious principles of the country, our columns, will be free from anything like bigotry, intolerance or oppression."
It came into being at a crucial period of change in the life of the city, with Oxford taking on the character of a modern town.
One momentous change around the time, saw fellows of colleges being allowed to marry, so that what ha always been a monastic institution began to need house and all the necessities of family life.
Prominent in the first news columns was 'Metropolitan Gossip , with readers assured that: "We allow our Gossiper full latitude in the expression of his opinion without undertaking any editorial responsibility for them." Foreign news was well covered. A glance at earl editions feature such headlines as: 'Manure riots in Naples , and 'A Mexican Outrage. There were several pieces about Garibaldi, while national news included a article on 'The Condemned Murderers in Kirkdale Gaol.
Local news featured a good deal of sport, including a rifle match between Banbury and Oxford, and a cricket match between the College Servants and the Citizens More than a column was devoted to Oxford races, which were remarkable for their pageantry.
Plowman was in charge for only six years when he decided to sell to George Rippon, a well-established newspaperman in theWest Country. Under Rippon, The Oxford Times became a strong pro-Tory newspaper and sales really took off.
In particular, he started a weekly political column under the name of Jack O Lantern, which he wrote himself. Every week, he would be controversial, flying the Tory flag and lampooning theWhigs, the opposition party. The readers loved it and flocked to buy the paper By 1928, the next important landmark in Oxford newspaper history, The Oxford Times was in a strong position as the city s leading newspaper The main rival, the Chronicle, was in a poor financial state and the owner, Frank Gray, decided he had to ac t decisively to save his business. He did so by launching Oxford s own evening newspaper, the Oxford Mail.
Secrecy was the byword — he didn't t want his rivals a The Oxford Times to get wind of his plans Gray discreetly bought an old furniture warehouse in New Inn Hall Street — where the Argos showroom no stands — and shipped in redundant newspaper equipment and staff, mainly from Bradford.
The Oxford Times staff, however, soon realised what was happening and decided to fight back with their own evening paper, The Oxford Evening Times , which hit the streets on December 1, 1928.
The first copies of Gray s Oxford Mail appeared on the news-stands on December 12. The Oxford public then ha a choice of five evening papers — the three London papers, the News, the Standard and the Star were also sold in the city. However, the battle for sales by the two Oxford papers was short lived. In March 1929 the proprietors of the two companies agreed to publish together — the Oxford Mail , as Oxford s only daily paper and The Oxford Times as the city s weekly, to dominate the market as they still do today. The controlling company became Oxford and County Newspapers.
Other newspapers in the county were acquired and, in 1972, the division moved from its cramped site , a Newspaper House, New Inn Hall Street, to ne headquarters on the Osney Mead estate.
Three years ago a new state-of-the- art printing press was built and installed by The Oxford Time parent company Newsquest Oxfordshire. The new press a Osney Mead is capable of producing up to 75,000 copies in one hour.We can print 192 pages at one time, all in glorious full colour, if required. A far cry from the presses that first rolled in 1862 The newspaper s continuing high journalistic standards, however, remained unchanged and have been recognised down the years with a series of major awards In the recent years The Oxford Time has been named the regional weekly newspaper of the year at both the Newspaper Awards and the Newspaper Society Awards In February, the newspaper also won the Newsquest weekly newspaper of the year award, while the paper magazine supplements, including Oxfordshire Limited Edition , have all been recognised with prestigious industry awards Now further change awaits as the newspaper switched from broadsheet to compact size.
Derek Holmes, current editor of The Oxford Time , said: "We are changing the size of the paper, but our values will remain the same. Our research tells us this i what readers want."
