Front Page: Celebrating 100 years of the British Newspaper (1906 - 2006)

An exhibition in partnership with the Newspaper Publishers Association

The British Library 25 May - 8 October 2006

Politics, finance and circulation war! Explosive exposes and exclusives! Intrigue, in-fighting and infamy! From hot metal to hot gossip, this new exhibition brings to life the growth, development, rivalry and union of the newspaper industry in Britain over the past 100 years, staged to mark the centenary of the Newspaper Publishers Association (NPA).

The enormous changes in news-gathering, reporting and newspaper production over the past century are imaginatively unfolded in the exhibition through a selection of front pages from 1906-2006. These have been arranged into themes ranging from royalty, society, scandal, sport and celebrations through to war, disasters and assassinations.

The chosen front pages and themes serve primarily as a backdrop to illustrate how and why reporting on those topics has changed, rather than being a history of each topic in the 20th century.

Each theme has been "curated" by a newspaper group in order to highlight the individual editorial values and styles which grace the front pages of The Times, Sunday Times, Sun, News of the World, Financial Times, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Guardian, Observer, Independent, Independent on Sunday, Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Evening Standard, Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, Sunday People, Daily Express, Sunday Express and Daily Star.

Visitors will be able to look behind the headlines to see what the papers say about themselves and their ever-evolving industry. Commentaries from editors and journalists have been written exclusively for the exhibition and will be published in a specially-commissioned commemorative newspaper. These provide fascinating insight into the decision-making process behind the headlines and include contributions from Robert Warren on World War One and World War Two, Frederick Forsyth on assassinations, Lord Bill Deedes on politics and Kelvin MacKenzie on the tabloids.

The display will also remind visitors of some of the headlines that have become legendary in their own right for a variety of reasons, from encapsulating the mood of the nation, demonstrating the problems of long-distance news-gathering under difficult circumstances to meet deadlines, to simply providing sheer entertainment value.

These include the 1912 Daily Mirror headline "Titanic sunk - no lives lost"; the Daily Mirror's 1939 Hitler headline "Wanted for Murder.for kidnapping"; The Sun's 1982 headline "Gotcha" about the sinking of the Belgrano in the Falklands War, The Sun's 1986 headline "Freddie Star ate my hamster"; The Sunday Express's 1997 headline "Diana is dead"; and the Independent on Sunday's 2003 headline on Saddam Hussain's weapons of mass destruction, "So where are they Mr Blair?"

The centerpiece of the exhibition is an innovative interactive "newsroom" where visitors can use computers to experience the excitement and pace of a newsroom environment by becoming Editor of their own newspaper. As Editor, they will take on the job of making up a front page on screen, using individual newspaper house styles and choosing from a "jigsaw" databank of prepared stories and photographs, while working to a tight deadline.

A further section looks at the future of newspapers outlining the challenges due to new technology, TV and the internet. It also raises awareness of the value of newspapers as a resource for research and the understanding of history and the importance of preserving newspapers.

All the front pages on display in this exhibition can be found in the British Library's collection of over 52,000 titles which are available for research. The UK's national archival collection of newspapers occupies about twenty miles of shelving and comprises some 664,000 volumes and parcels, with 370,000 reels of positive microfilm.

Approximately 2,600 UK and Irish newspaper and weekly/fortnightly periodical titles, about 90% of current acquisitions, are received in the Newspaper Legal Deposit Office.

In recent years the Library has been active in undertaking projects to open up access to its newspaper collections and enable readers to view newspapers remotely via the internet.

For further information please contact Rona Levin or Catriona Finlayson in the press office on: 020 7412 7110 or email: Catriona.Finlayson@bl.uk

Editors' notes

1) The Newspaper Publishers Association
Founded in 1906 as the Newspaper Proprietor's Association, the NPA is the trade association for Britain's national press, whose members have formed a unique and powerful coalition. Their products sell more than 15 million copies every day and inform and create opinion. A particular priority of the NPA is the promotion of a free, pluralist written press as a key agent of democracy in the UK and Europe. Its membership includes:

Associated Newspapers Ltd (Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Evening Standard)
Express Newspapers Ltd (Daily Express, Sunday Express, Daily Star, Daily Star Sunday)
Financial Times Ltd (Financial Times)
Guardian Newspapers Ltd (The Guardian, The Observer)
Mirror Group Newspapers (Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, Sunday People, Racing Post)
News International Ltd (The Sun, The Times, News of the World, The Sunday Times)
Independent News and Media (UK) Ltd (The Independent, the Independent on Sunday)
Telegraph Group Ltd (Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph)

2) Computer equipment and distribution has kindly been provided by Apple, HP and TNT

3) Newspaper Headlines Quiz Book
This innovative book presents a series of challenging quizzes based on historical events that have inspired headlines. From news stories as wide ranging as the Bhopal chemical disaster, the liberation of Paris in 1944, the world's fist test-tube baby, and the marriage of David Beckham, there are quizzes here for everyone.
Paperback,
160 pages
£6.95
Published May

Fleet Street - Five Hundred Years of the Press
Dennis Griffiths
An authoritative history of the Press in London, from its earliest days in the late 15th century through to the relaunch of The Guardian in 2005. Political opinion, commercial opportunism, technological advances, price wars, satisfying the thirst for news, the influence of editors, great feature writers, gossip columnists, advertising campaigns, the invention of the cartoon strip and crosswords, the power of the Press Barons, and then the breaking of the power of the unions - all contribute to the story that Griffiths weaves so expertly.
Hardback,
384 pages,
30 black-and-white illustrations
£25.00
Published May

4) Competition

Make the Front Page
A competition for aspiring journalists, photo-journalists and designers. Leading newspaper professionals will judge your writing, photo-essays and visions of the front page of the future. Prizes will include placements, digital equipment and press coverage at a prestigious event during the London Design Festival. There will be categories for all age groups. Further details will be posted on the website.

Explore Newspapers
Online resources about newspapers for teachers and students of Citizenship, Media Studies, History and English. Find these on www.bl.uk/learning from May.

Exhibition Activities for school groups

BREAKING STORIES Free workshops suitable for all ages To book a workshop or for more information about our learning programme, please visit www.bl.uk/learning or telephone +44 (0)20 7412 7797

5) A range of events and activities will be staged at the British Library around the exhibition. These include:

6 June	A panel debate entitled Women in Journalism by the eponymous organisation
12 June & 25 Sept	Study sessions with Stewart Gillies, Newspaper Services Manager at the British Library, How to use the Newspaper Library - Newspapers as a research tool.
13 June	Lecture and book-signing by Dennis Griffiths, author of History of Fleet Street, the official book accompanying the exhibition
27 June	Lecture by Eleanor Mills of the Sunday Times Women in Newspapers, based on the book Cupcakes and Kalashnikovs, edited by Eleanor Mills and Kira Cochrane
3 July	A panel discussion headed by Peter Florence, Director of The Guardian Hay Festival, entitled Classic Book - Scoop.
12 July	A panel discussion entitled The Media Men, including Roy Greenslade and Donald Trelford, chaired by Ian Reeves of Press Gazette
20 July & 27 July	Private tours of the exhibition for the public by John Frost who has provided all the newspapers in this exhibition from his personal archive
24 July	Writers in Conversation with Michael Frayn & Peter Florence.