Guardian publishes a timeline of its history. The launch of its daily features section
G2 (1992) is noted. So are the acquisition of a minority stake in Anglia Television (1968); the purchase of a controlling stake in
Northwest Automart (1982); the establishment of a radio division (1999); the creation of the Soulmates interactive dating website (2004); the launch of
Life, a short-lived and long forgotten science and technology supplement (2003); and the advent of guardianamerica.com, “designed to meet the needs of the paper’s growing US audience” (2007). Strangely missing from these highlights are
Education Guardian,
Society Guardian and
Media Guardian, sections of the paper that appeared weekly from the 1970s until a few years ago. Accompanied by pages of lucrative job advertisements – so numerous that a switch to tabloid format was once ruled out because they would make the paper too bulky for the average home letterbox – they were central not only to the p
In an interview to mark 200 years of The Guardian, editor Katharine Viner spoke to Press Gazette about the secret of its longevity.
The Guardian enters its third century in a secure financial position (with just under £1bn in the bank and sustainable losses running at £10-20m annually). And while print circulation continues to decline (to just over 100,000 copies per day), it claims more than 1m paying readers and is the sixth biggest news website in the world with 317m website visits in March 2021.
PG: Congratulations on 200 years in print. What do you think is the secret to The Guardian’s success?