The first of two programmes about our national newspapers.

"There will be no war in Europe... All nations desire peace and that includes Germany and Italy." Lord Beaverbrook, 1939
"I think he was a terrible influence... he made a fortune out of newspapers and at the same time he left behind him a trail of lost causes." James Cameron, journalist

In 300 years the British national press rose from a dangerous, clandestine trade to a profession in which press lords thought they wielded power over prime ministers. Did they? Or did the struggle for the freedom of the press merely end in the freedom of a few powerful proprietors to try to dictate to readers, writers and politicians what they should do? The hacks of Grub Street - 17th-century publishers and pamphleteers began the fight for the freedom to print news and opinion. The executioner, prison, the pillory were waiting for them. By the 19th century it seemed that freedom had been won. The Times was among those newspapers which made Fleet Street independent and influential. Northcliffe bought it. Rothermere and Beaverbrook rose. Death was no longer the penalty, but disagreement could mean professional death. The press remained precarious. The fight now was economic and managerial. Freedom would still cost a lot.
Written and narrated by Paul Ferris

(Part 2 tomorrow at 9.20 pm)
(It's 3-1 you're reading this man's paper: page 3)