Read all about it! The story of the Daily Herald
The Daily Herald was once the world’s top-selling newspaper. Read the story of its rise and fall, as captured in the paper’s vast photographic archive.
A photographic print of Industry, Printing - Newspapers A photographic print of Industry, Printing - NewspapersNational Science and Media Museum
Launched in 1911, the Daily Herald brought together labour politics with the design-intensive approach of the popular press. Despite its vast readership, financial instability eventually forced its sale and transformation into The Sun.
Daily Herald Photograph: Publishing the Daily Herald Daily Herald Photograph: Publishing the Daily HeraldNational Science and Media Museum
Today, the National Science and Media Museum cares for the Daily Herald Photographic Archive—3.5 million photographs, contact sheets and negatives that reveal the paper’s take on the events that shaped the 20th century, as well as the people who made the Herald.
Birth of a socialist daily
The Daily Herald began its life as a strike sheet for the London printing unions on 25 January 1911. Once the fight for better pay and a reduced 48-hour working week was won, the Herald closed its doors on 28 April 1911.
Daily Herald Photograph: Old Daily Herald Building, Carmelite StreetNational Science and Media Museum
But the idea of a permanent socialist newspaper persisted. David Walls (Association of Correctors of the Press) joined with trade unionists Tommy Naylor and Ben Tillet, along with Labour politician George Lansbury, to relaunch the Daily Herald on 15 April 1912.
A photographic print of Daily Herald, Photographic DepartmentsNational Science and Media Museum
The Daily Herald was rebellious and, in the words of its first editor George Lansbury, ‘avowedly anti-official’. This stance made it difficult for the paper to seek funds through advertising and wealthy individuals. Yet they still needed an income to keep the presses running.
The most fantastic resources, not all strictly legal, were exhausted in order to bring the daily quota of paper to the hungry machines... the several hundred pounds required each night to pay for paper were somehow obtained, usually at the last minute.
George Slocombe, writer, journalist and war correspondent, 1936
This was no small task. There was a busy newsroom to staff and subeditors to pay. The subeditors often worked late into the night while phones rang in the background and journalists brought them stories at the old Daily Herald building on Carmelite Street, London. Then, linotype operators set copy approved by the subeditors for printing.
Daily Herald Photograph: Daily Herald darkroomNational Science and Media Museum
While the Daily Herald’s editors initially feared that including photographs would undermine the seriousness of the paper, from the 1930s onwards photojournalism became an invaluable tool for storytelling. Photos were developed in the on-site darkrooms.
Daily Herald Photograph: The Process Department at the Daily HeraldNational Science and Media Museum
Once developed, cropped and edited, photographs were copied through a screen and reproduced in tiny dots on metal printing ‘blocks’ in the Process Department.
Daily Herald Photograph: Daily Herald Linotype operatorsNational Science and Media Museum
Lithographers then used a special greasy substance to coat the blocks so that ink only adhered to the desired areas of the image. Image and type blocks were laid out like puzzle pieces to create the individual pages that comprised each edition of the Daily Herald.
Each page was then cast into a plate for printing. One of these men is holding a typical rounded plate. From the 1930s, the newspaper used the latest rotary machines for printing. Used plates were melted down and recast daily in the Daily Herald foundry.
Bringing the Herald to press daily was a monumental process. And everything—from people to paper to premises—came at a cost. Throughout the newspaper’s lifetime, decisions about management and ownership came down to fiscal bottom lines.
Daily Herald Photograph: Daily Herald van tourNational Science and Media Museum
The search for stability
Of necessity, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) took control in 1922. And in 1929, Odhams Press purchased a controlling share (51%) in the newspaper. The new owners aimed to increase circulation, broaden the Herald’s appeal and ensure its financial viability.
Promotional campaigns
Recruiting readership was an ongoing concern. Despite condemnation from the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association, gifts, competitions and a free £10,000 family insurance policy for registered readers helped build a loyal following.
Labour affiliations
When the paper officially relaunched on 17 October 1930, it had 922,000 registered readers. Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald officially started the presses for the ‘new’ Herald. Despite its drive for commercial success, the paper continued supporting Labour policies.
Daily Herald Photograph: Daily Herald readersNational Science and Media Museum
Beginning of the end
Though the competition was fierce, the Daily Herald became the first paper to achieve 2 million daily net sales in June 1933. While its readership increased, the number of low-income subscribers made attracting sustainable advertiser income difficult.
The Sun sets on the Herald
Ongoing financial problems fomented fears that political partisanship was hampering the paper. In the early 1960s, faced with a downward spiral in sales and the loss of advertising revenue, the TUC relinquished their shares in the newspaper.
Daily Herald Photograph: The Sun goes to pressNational Science and Media Museum
In September 1964, the paper relaunched as The Sun with the slogan ‘A Paper Born of the Age We Live In’. Despite an initial upsurge in circulation, sales again declined. The management decided to cut their losses and sold The Sun to Rupert Murdoch’s News International in 1969.
Preserving the Daily Herald
After the sale of the Daily Herald—by then renamed The Sun—to Rupert Murdoch’s News International in 1969, its photography archive was transferred to the National Portrait Gallery.
In 1983, it transferred to the National Science and Media Museum which became its permanent home. We continue to care for the archive through ongoing efforts to digitise photographs and share stories.
All images are from the Science Museum Group collection. Copyright Mirrorpix, Hulton Archive/Getty Images, and TopFoto.
