Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe

The Viscount Northcliffe
Photograph by Gertrude Käsebier (1908)
Born
Alfred Charles William Harmsworth

(1865-07-15)15 July 1865
Chapelizod, County Dublin, Ireland
Died14 August 1922(1922-08-14) (aged 57)
Carlton House Gardens, London, England
NationalityBritish
EducationStamford School
OccupationPublisher
Title1st Viscount Northcliffe
Spouse
(m. 1888)
Children4 (illegitimate)
Parent(s)Alfred Harmsworth
Geraldine Mary Maffett
RelativesThe 1st Baron Harmsworth (brother)
The 1st Viscount Rothermere (brother)
Sir Leicester Harmsworth (brother)
Sir Hildebrand Harmsworth (brother)
St John Harmsworth (brother)

Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe (15 July 1865 – 14 August 1922), was a British newspaper and publishing magnate. As owner of the Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror, he was an early developer of popular journalism, and he exercised vast influence over British popular opinion during the Edwardian era.[1] Lord Beaverbrook said he was "the greatest figure who ever strode down Fleet Street."[2] About the beginning of the 20th century there were increasing attempts to develop popular journalism intended for the working class and tending to emphasize sensational topics. Harmsworth was the main innovator. He said, "News is something someone wants to suppress. Everything else is advertising."

Lord Northcliffe had a powerful role during the First World War, especially by criticizing the government regarding the Shell Crisis of 1915. He directed a mission to the new ally, the United States, during 1917, and was director of enemy propaganda during 1918.

His Amalgamated Press employed writers such as Arthur Mee and John Hammerton, and its subsidiary, the Educational Book Company, published The Harmsworth Self-Educator, The Children's Encyclopædia, and Harmsworth's Universal Encyclopaedia. Challenging the dominance in popularity of the "penny dreadfuls" among British children, from the 1890s Harmsworth half-penny periodicals, such as Illustrated Chips, would enjoy a virtual monopoly of comics in the UK until the emergence of DC Thomson comics in the 1930s.[3]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Grdn2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Lord Beaverbrook, Politicians and the War, 1914–1916 (1928) 1:93.
  3. ^ Khoury, George (2004). True Brit: A Celebration of the Great Comic Book Artists of the UK. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 9.