Title:
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A history of newspaper journalism in Belfast, 1855-1910
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This thesis explores the character, content and legacy of newspaper journalism in
Belfast between 1855 and 1910. It locates Belfast's press at this time as the successor
of more radical journalism in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and as a
predecessor of the tabloid style or 'New Journalism ' which did not properly take hold
in the North until the early twentieth century.
Newspapers in Belfast at this time were sectarian, fragmented, overtly
political, capitalist, decreasingly radical and highly competitive. Their coverage used
an array of literary devices including language, layout, genre and rhetoric to convey
meaning to their audiences. They not only reflected Belfast society but also acted as
an influence on politics and publics order. They were a vital part of business and
social aspects of the civic sphere. The key newspapers of the period of study were the
Belfast News Letter, the Belfast Morning News/Irish News, and the Belfast Telegraph.
These newspapers continue to exist as dailies and are still capable of providing insight
into contemporary Belfast society. The legacy of the Belfast press between 1855 and
1910 can still be identified when it comes to understanding the same newspapers in a
21st Century setting.
Until now, newspapers of this period have been used by historians as sources
of factual information and historical detail rather than studied in their own right as
important social, political, economic and cultural institutions in a developing
Victorian city. This thesis provides a taxonomic survey of Belfast's newspapers
before exploring newspaper content thematically in terms of sectarianism, business,
constitutional and militant nationalism, and socialism. It references previous work by
Anderson (1983), Conboy (2004, 2011), Palmegiano (2007), Wolff (1971), Pykett
(1990) and others with a view to providing a strong theoretical framework which
locates Belfast's press as part of a wider Irish press which must be understood fully
before it can be compared to other nations' presses in the Victorian age. The thesis
thus makes a major contribution to the field as it is the first rigorously academic
document chronicling the history of the North of Ireland's foremost group of
newspapers.
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