ABSTRACT
Fleet Street was also the ideal place for gathering and exchanging news. The abolition of stamp duty in 1855 opened up the possibility of cheap newspapers, affordable by all classes. Production costs were lowered by more than the mere penny in tax. Printers no longer had to cut the continuous web of paper into individual sheets for the tax stamp to be applied. They could now take full advantage of the new technology. Commercial growth and the development of branded goods distributed nationally increased the demand for advertising. The introduction of the electric telegraph and the growth of news agencies such as Reuters enabled both foreign and national news to be gathered cheaply. Therefore, the volume of information arriving at the newspaper offices was increasing at an alarming rate. These factors had two consequences: an increase in the size of newspapers, helped by cheap newsprint; and the organization of journalism into functional specializations to cope with great mass of material.
