ABSTRACT
Until 1850, accounts of newspapers and their development had generally been subordinated to studies of printing or outlines of the campaigns against the 'taxes on knowledge'. Such studies included those by the historian and critic John Oldmixon in 1742 1 and John Crawfurd
JosephCowen,anotherLiberaljournalistandeditoroftheNewcastle Chronicle,addressedhisownlocalEclecticDebatingSocietyonthe marvelsofnewspaperjournalism.Heprescientlyconcededthat'thenew power...isveryfaryetfromhavingdevelopedeitheritsextentorits energy,orthebenignityofitsinfluenceuponman'.Itremainedtoosoon toknowhowbesttowork'thisgreatmachinery',andmankindwasstill onlyservingitsapprenticeshiptoit.Alongapprenticeship,Cowen suggested,ratherlikehisownasaprinter,was'thebestmodeof ascertainingthe.dutiesofthosetowhomthisengineisentrustedandthe benefitstobederivedbythosewhoaretherecipientsofitsinfluence'. Cowenthensurveyedtheusesmadeofthepressinpolitics,religionand literarycultureoverthepreviousthreecenturies,culminatinginthemost recentperiodofnewspaperjournalism.Onlyinthemostrecenttimeshad thepresscometoministertotheservicesofthepeople,its'longneglected butmostimportantfunction'.LikeBaines,Cowenregardedbooksas inaccessiblereservoirsofknowledge.Quarterlyandmonthlyperiodicals toowerenarrowinscopeandpreoccupiedwiththe'toilsomelabourofthe literaryandthelearned'.Thenewspaper,inrelationtothebookandthe periodical,was,admittedly,atfirst'apoorandimperfectthing'.Gradually, however,itsgrowthinsize,rangeofcontentandcirculationhadledtothe creationofastimulatingandentirelynewkindofmediumof communication,with'itswondrousaggregateofmatterandinformation; itsuniversalityandfreedomofcommunication'.
