London’s Fleet Street: Past is in present tense

Time and technology have overtaken the iconic Fleet Street — for long the beating heart of Britain’s news culture with a global resonance

Journalists like to be known by their output, but two London-based staffers of the Dundee-based Sunday Post — Gavin Sheriff and Darryl Smith — hit the headlines in 2016 not for their stories, but for being the last journalists to leave Fleet Street. They brought up the rear end of an exodus that began in the 1980s, which forever altered the character of the street that was associated with publishing since the 16th century, writing the first draft of history while bearing close witness to the unfolding of British and global events, including colonialism and wars. Days after the two reporters left for home in Scotland, the London Press Club organised ‘Fleet Street’s Last Lunch’ in Punch Tavern, when memories and more flowed generously as some of the dwindling tribe of Fleet Street hacks gathered and fondly recalled the magic of working there, celebrating the days of no mobiles, smoke-filled newsrooms, long lunches and runners scurrying to pubs with messages.

History hangs heavily in every part and pub on the street, which epitomised the earlier era of print journalism and its romance for a certain generation of journalists: of the letter-press, linotype, galleys, typewriters, the sweet stench of printing ink, news agency tickers, telegraph and teleprinters, proof-readers, a 24-hour news cycle and the thrum of printing presses in the basements. It was reflected in popular culture and Dickensian literature (The Pickwick Papers, A Tale of Two Cities), attracted a range of epithets over the centuries, including ‘Street of Shame’, ‘Street of Scandals’ and ‘Lifeblood of Democracy’, but continues to be a metonym for the British press and its legacy of good and not-so-good journalism.

One of London’s most historic thoroughfares since Roman times, Fleet Street runs from the West End to the heart of the city’s historic ‘Square Mile’ at Ludgate Circus. Together with the Strand to its western end, Fleet Street has served as a ceremonial procession route from St Paul’s Cathedral to Buckingham Palace for many centuries. Several groups organise walking tours along the nearly 500-metre-long street, whose eclectic mix of historic buildings make it one of London’s most characterful and recognisable streets. Few such streets of less than a kilometre have had such impact on journalism or any profession; the shorter Bahadurshah Zafar Marg in New Delhi is often called India’s ‘Fleet Street’ after the number of newspapers published from there.

Fleet Street was at the centre of the evolution of the British newspaper, from the early newspapers — or ‘corantos’, as they were called — that began in a society and culture then marked by low literacy and oral communication. In 1846, Charles Dickens dabbled as a newspaper editor by beginning his own publication The Daily News, but his temperament was not exactly suited to such a position, and he lasted a few weeks before resigning. Over the centuries, newspapers published from the street evoked passions about their cultural and political value, sometimes seen as midwives to British democracy, or accused of debasing political, ethical and moral standards, particularly the tabloids.

Britain’s first daily newspaper, The Daily Courant, began in March 1702, next to the King’s Arms tavern at Fleet Bridge. Taverns and crowded watering holes were a part of the news culture; several pubs were known as ‘journalists’ pubs’, such as the idiosyncratic Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, El Vino and Punch Tavern, while the St Bride’s Church — the ‘Journalists’ Church’ — had a long association with newspapers. The British model of journalism as it evolved on the street was transported to colonies; for example, the first newspaper published in India in 1780, Hicky’s Bengal Gazette, from Calcutta, bore close resemblance to the titles on Fleet Street and their controversial contents at the time.

Strikes, ethics, diversity

Fleet Street’s golden age lapsed and its standing as the centre of British journalism dwindled from the 1980s, particularly after media magnate Rupert Murdoch took on powerful unions and moved the publication of The Times and The Sun to Wapping in east London. Other newspapers subsequently joined the exodus; such has been the field-defining impact of Murdoch’s bottom-line approach to journalism that ‘Murdochisation’ has become a significant theme in media research. Mike Jempson, former journalist and director of ethics charity MediaWise, says: “To get to Fleet Street once felt like reaching the pinnacle of British journalism, but it was also a place of intrigue, bombast, fierce competition and dubious ethics. I opted out of that particular rat race, but enjoyed many a lunch and spent many an evening at the Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, the Tipperary, The Old Bell and the Punch Tavern pitching stories, swapping yarns or checking in with union colleagues. The Wapping Dispute, when Murdoch engineered a strike, then sacked almost 6,000 staff was a real shock to the system and signalled the end of those days.”

‘Dubious ethics’, as Jempson puts it, was part of a news culture that was overwhelmingly male-dominated. Women in newsrooms were seen as an anachronism, reflected in a news item in a trade journal in 1889, which announced the “invasion of Fleet Street’s sanctity (by) journalistic damsels everywhere taking their place at the reporters’ table, or hurrying up to the offices about midnight with their ‘copy’ — chiefly Society news”.

Says Cynthia Carter, senior media academic at Cardiff University: “Until the late 19th century, newspaper journalism was seen to be an unsuitable job for educated ladies in Britain because it was widely regarded as too rude and a craft that was all about reporting about the lives and concerns of men. By the end of the century, however, as advertising began to dominate the economics of journalism, a growing number of white, middle-class, well-educated women were hired to attract women readers that advertisers wanted to reach. These women largely found themselves writing about ‘light’, low-status stories about home, fashion, society gossip, beauty and the arts in sharp contrast to their men colleagues who reported on ‘serious’, high-status news about politics, economics and war. This situation remained much the same until the late 20th century. For example, Mary Stott was appointed editor of The Guardian’s ‘women’s pages’ in 1957, and Jean Rook, who became known as ‘The First Lady of Fleet Street’ rose up the ranks by working the ‘straight talking b***h’ stereotype. Until quite recently, very few women held positions of real editorial power, but that situation is changing.”

Colonial and post-independent India featured prominently in the street’s journalistic output. Governments from the late 18th century sought the support of Fleet Street editors while passing legislation related to India in the House of Commons. It was not until the 1970s and 1980s that Indian journalists and offices of some groups such as ABP and Hindustan Times appeared on the street. Mihir Bose, author and sports journalist who wrote for The Sunday Times and other newspapers, was among the first Indians on Fleet Street; others were sports writers Dicky Rutnagar, Sukumar Sen and cartoonist Abu Abraham. The leading writers on India were those who had returned after reporting the country’s freedom struggle and independence, or prominent journalists such as James Cameron and Ian Jack. Bose says: “It was a different world. Most editors didn’t know anyone of colour. It was thought that Indians could not write English well. There was a lot of drinking... Every editor had a bar cabinet in his office. Sub-editors, writers, photographers — each group had its own favourite pub that the other would not visit.”

As London grew into a global capital for news with increasing numbers of foreign correspondents, they increasingly relied on Fleet Street for leads and information about stories they would report back home. But the insular nature of its news culture was soon apparent to them.

Kate McCure, president of the Foreign Press Association (FPA) — the world’s oldest such group — says: “The FPA came into being when correspondents from around the world flocked to London in 1888 to cover the sensational ‘Jack the Ripper’ story. There was an insatiable hunger to hear all about this gruesome crime [story]. Foreign journalists relied heavily on the English newspapers to give them the breadth of detail that their readers craved. Fleet Street was, of course, the nerve centre and the coffee houses and bars buzzed with journalists from around the world, meeting up with each other and any British reporters they could collar for details. Prejudice against foreigners was rife, and English journalists were sadly often complicit. Despite lack of any evidence, the perpetrator of the Whitechapel murders was widely reported to be ‘foreign’, and members of the overseas media often faced hostility and discrimination when trying to report the story. Fleet Street’s reporting of foreign news emphasised the difference of other nations — strange customs, savage ways, and bizarre habits — as a way of making the English feel united as a group, against common enemies. Fleet Street reporters knew that their readers would relish tales of ‘barbaric foreigners’ and were often only too happy to play up the prejudices.”

Campaign to save heritage

Today, instead of journalism, the street is a hub of banks, consulting majors and legal services; more than 200 international law firms have offices in the area, buzzing with over 17,000 solicitors and more. Prominent buildings that once housed leading news organisations include the Reuters & Press Association building, designed by Edwin Lutyens; The Daily Telegraph Building and the Express building. Several lanes off Fleet Street have their own histories linked to journalism, while the new owners of buildings try to retain facades and some artefacts of the print era in prominent places, such as the linotype machine.

But a new multi-million-pound initiative by the City of London Corporation has sparked concern and a campaign by several groups to protect the street’s heritage. Called the Salisbury Square Development to create a ‘Justice Quarter’, plans include new courtrooms and police headquarters, which involves demolishing the Chronicle House building and a Victorian era pub, among others. Chronicle House carries a memorial plaque to TP O’Connor, the Irish journalist who lived from 1848 to 1929, and founded four publications; it carries the inscription: “His pen could lay bare the bones of a book or the soul of a statesman in a few vivid lines.” Campaign group Save Britain’s Heritage has written to housing secretary Robert Jenrick to request the plans be called in for examination at a public inquiry, given the nationally significant nature of the proposals and the fact that the City of London Corporation is both, the landowner, applicant and the statutory decision body in this case.

Historic England, the public body that looks after England’s environment, has also opposed the plans, citing the harmful impact they will have on the Fleet Street Conservation Area and the unjustified loss of heritage assets that contribute to its character and charm. It says: “Major impacts such as this can progressively and fundamentally erode the character of a conservation area, and it is important to recognise therefore that moderate harm in the context of a large and highly significant conservation area is a very serious issue… We consider this to be a very serious issue given the degree of the harm to such an important conservation area in the national context.” Henrietta Billings, director of Save Britain’s Heritage, adds: “Conservation areas like this one are designed to recognise and protect the special character, flair and heritage of our important streets and places. Fleet Street is famous for its rich newspaper history, as well as its largely well-preserved streets and alleyways and medieval street pattern. Large scale demolition-creep of this kind is crass and short-sighted in any location — let alone in a so-called conservation area. The whole approach needs a re-think.”

(Prasun is a journalist based in London. He tweets @PrasunSonwalkar.)

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