ABSTRACT
In their long history newspapers have always had a dual function: to inform and to advertise. From the seventeenth century they have provided readers with news and comment alongside promotional messages. But it was not until the 1730s that it became routine practice to make the non-editorial function explicit in their names, something that continues to this day in the regional press (Ormskirk Advertiser, Perthshire Advertiser, etc.). The typical ‘small ads’ of the period – for wigs, books, theatrical performances and, above all, for quack medicines – were set in the same single columns, typefaces and small point sizes as those used throughout the publication. For almost two centuries the front page of publications like The Times comprised such classified advertisements (the paper replaced them with news and photographs as recently as 1966, the last national title to do so).1 Papers require the income from advertising to augment what they receive from cover sales. (In the case of free newspapers, such as the Metro, this is their sole source of revenue.) On the other hand, commercial advertisers have always needed a public platform to help sell their products and services. The relationship between the two parties is thus – and always has been – symbiotic and economic (Doyle 2002).
