The Guardian

The Guardian is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as The Manchester Guardian and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, The Guardian Weekly, The Guardian is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust Limited. The trust was created in 1936 to protect the newspaper's independence and values.

The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner has led the paper since 2015. Since 2018, the paper's main newsprint sections have been published in tabloid format. In July 2021, its print edition had a daily circulation of 105,134. The newspaper is also available online, with editions for the UK, US, Australia, Europe, and International readers.

The Guardian is known for its trustworthy reporting. In 2018, it was named the most trusted digital news source in the UK. The paper has also broken many important stories, such as revealing secret government surveillance and investigating financial secrets hidden in offshore accounts. It has been named "newspaper of the year" four times at the annual British Press Awards, most recently in 2023.

History

1821 to 1972

Early years

The Manchester Guardian began in Manchester in 1821, founded by John Edward Taylor and a group of businessmen. It started right after the closing of another newspaper, the Manchester Observer. The new paper aimed to support fair government and reform. Over time, it grew and changed its name a few times.

The paper was not always popular with workers and often spoke against their demands. In 1825, it merged with another paper and was called The Manchester Guardian and British Volunteer until 1828.

In 2023, a review found that the paper's founder and some early supporters had connections to trading goods from places where people were treated unfairly.

Slavery and the American Civil War

The Manchester Guardian spoke out against unfair treatment of people and supported trading freely. It welcomed laws that helped end unfair treatment but also worried about fighting over it. The paper had mixed feelings about the war in the United States between states that treated people unfairly and those that did not. It hoped that if southern states could trade freely, unfair treatment might end on its own.

The paper was divided on whether to support the northern or southern states. It criticized a key decision by the leader of the northern states for not ending unfair treatment completely. After the war started, the paper reported on the killing of the leader of the northern states, calling it very sad.

C. P. Scott

C. P. Scott edited the paper for many years and helped it become well-known nationwide. He made the paper more willing to challenge popular opinions, like supporting leaders who wanted women to have more rights, even though he did not agree with all the ways they fought for it.

Scott also helped bring attention to social issues in Ireland through articles and drawings. He was a friend of a leader who helped create a new country, and the paper supported that new country when it formed.

In 1936, ownership moved to the Scott Trust, which helped keep the paper independent.

From 1930 to 1967, the paper kept special copies of each day's paper in zinc cases. These were found in 1988 and showed how well the paper had been preserved.

Spanish Civil War

During the war in Spain from 1936 to 1939, the paper gained respect for its honest reporting. It supported the government against a group led by General Franco.

Post-war

After World War II, the paper's editor did not agree with a key leader and encouraged people to vote for the other side in an election. The paper opposed a big decision involving Egypt, calling it a mistake.

In 1959, the paper changed its name to The Guardian and moved its printing to London in 1961.

1972 to 2000

The Troubles

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, there were troubles in Northern Ireland between different groups. The Guardian thought the government should send in soldiers to help keep peace. In 1972, soldiers shot and killed many people during a march, and the paper said both sides made mistakes.

Sarah Tisdall

In 1983, the paper got involved in a problem when a worker shared secret documents. The paper had to give the documents to the government, and the worker went to prison.

The Observer

In 1993, the paper bought another weekly newspaper called The Observer, so it could publish seven days a week.

Alleged penetration by Russian intelligence

In 1994, a former spy said a writer for the paper might have helped another country’s intelligence service. The writer said he only had meals and gifts.

Jonathan Aitken

In 1995, the paper and a TV program said a government leader may have done something wrong. The leader sued but lost when the paper showed proof.

Connection

In 1998, the paper showed that a TV documentary was mostly made up, leading to big fines for the TV company.

Kosovo War

The paper supported using military force to help people during the war in Kosovo in 1998–1999.

Since 2000

In the early 2000s, the paper spoke out against old laws. After bombings in London in 2005, a trainee writer who belonged to a group with strong beliefs lost his job.

The paper looked into how much tax big companies paid and helped expose wrongdoings by a big newspaper.

The Guardian has sometimes been accused of not treating all sides fairly in the conflict between Israel and Palestine. It has also been involved in many other stories around the world.

In 2013, the paper shared secret information about how governments were watching people's communications, after getting the information from someone who worked for a secret agency.

The paper has faced many challenges, including dealing with false stories and attacks on its computers, but it continues to report news today.

Ownership and finances

The Guardian is part of the Guardian Media Group, which also includes The Guardian Weekly and TheGuardian.com. For many years, it was owned by The Scott Trust, a charitable foundation that helped keep the newspaper independent and financially stable. In 2008, the Scott Trust changed into a new company called The Scott Trust Limited, but it continued to support the newspaper's independence.

The Guardian stands out because it checks its own social, ethical, and environmental actions each year with an independent auditor. It also has a readers' editor to handle complaints and corrections. For a long time, The Guardian faced financial challenges, but by focusing more on its online edition and asking readers for support, it has worked to stay independent. In recent years, its online versions have become very important to its success.

Political stance and editorial opinion

The Guardian started as a newspaper for business people. Over time, its political views changed, especially after World War II. It began to support the Labour Party and left-wing ideas.

The Guardian tries to stay independent and faithful to its liberal traditions. Most of its readers support the Labour Party. The newspaper has supported different political leaders and causes over the years. For example, it backed Tony Blair when he led the Labour Party but later opposed the war in Iraq.

The Guardian allows writers with different political views to share their opinions. It has also supported changes to the British voting system and has taken positions on various elections and referendums. Recently, it has worked on secure messaging to protect sources who share important information with journalists.

Circulation and format

The Guardian started with a circulation of 4,700 in 1837 and grew to 10,300 by 1854. Over the years, its daily circulation numbers changed. In December 2012, it was certified at 204,222 copies, but this number kept falling. By December 2016, it was down to 161,091, and in July 2021, it reached 105,134 before the publishers stopped sharing these numbers.

The first edition of The Guardian was published on May 5, 1821, in Manchester, initially as a weekly paper costing 7d due to taxes. When taxes were reduced, it added more editions and eventually became a daily paper in 1855. In 1952, it started putting news on the front page instead of ads. In 1959, after the closure of another paper, it dropped “Manchester” from its name and moved to London in 1964.

In 2005, The Guardian switched to a Berliner format, which is slightly larger than a traditional tabloid. This change included a new design and cost £80 million. Readers generally liked the new format, though some were unhappy about a cartoon strip that was briefly removed.

In 2018, The Guardian and its Sunday paper, The Observer, changed to a tabloid format to save money. This change was part of a plan to cut jobs and reduce losses. After the switch, the paper saw an increase in subscriptions, and editors worked on improving aspects that readers didn’t like.

Online media

The Guardian and its Sunday paper, The Observer, share all their news online for free. You can read current news and also look at a big collection of over three million old stories. By May 2013, it was the most popular newspaper website in the UK, with many people visiting each month.

The Guardian created mobile apps for reading news on phones and tablets in 2009 and later years. In 2025, they added special ways for people to share important information safely.

The paper has a section called Comment is Free where writers share their ideas and readers can discuss the news. They also have many podcasts, including one called Today in Focus, which talks about the day’s news.

GuardianFilms

In 2003, The Guardian began a film company called GuardianFilms, led by journalist Maggie O'Kane. The company mainly makes documentaries for television. Some of these films have been shown on different channels around the world.

GuardianFilms has won many awards for its work. It has received special prizes from groups that honor good journalism and storytelling. Some of its films have been recognized for their important and moving stories about real events and people.

References in popular culture

The newspaper is sometimes called The Grauniad, a nickname that started in the funny magazine Private Eye. This funny name comes from an anagram and plays on the paper’s early history of having many typing mistakes, like writing its own name wrong as The Gaurdian.

The very first issue had mistakes, like saying goods would be sold at atction instead of auction. These mistakes happen less now since they stopped using old printing methods. Some people think the mistakes were because readers expected to find them! The paper was printed in Manchester until 1961.

Employees from The Guardian or its sister paper, The Observer, appeared in movies like The Fifth Estate, Snowden, and Official Secrets. Actor Paddy Considine played a made-up Guardian reporter in The Bourne Ultimatum.

People sometimes use the phrase “Guardian reader” to describe someone with left-wing or progressive views.

Awards

The Guardian has received many awards for its work. In 1998, 2005, 2010, and 2013, it won the National Newspaper of the Year award. Journalists from The Guardian have also won many prizes, including Reporter of the Year, Foreign Reporter of the Year, and Young Journalist of the Year, among others.

The Guardian also gives out awards. It sponsors the Guardian First Book Award for new authors and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize for children's books. It also helps organize the Hay Festival in Hay-on-Wye.

Editors

Notable regular contributors (past and present)

The Guardian has had many writers, journalists, and experts share their ideas over the years. Some well-known names include authors, commentators, and specialists in various fields.

The newspaper has also featured work from cartoonists, satirists, and photographers who help bring stories to life with their art and images.

Guardian News and Media archive

The Guardian and The Observer opened a special place called The Newsroom in London in 2002. This place helped keep the history of the newspapers safe and share their values through exhibits and learning programs. In 2008, everything moved to Kings Place. Now called The Guardian News & Media archive, it collects and shares important items that tell the full story of The Guardian and The Observer.

People can visit by appointment to see letters, diaries, and pictures from the newspapers’ staff. There is also a big collection of old Manchester Guardian items at the University of Manchester's John Rylands University Library, and the British Library has many old copies too. In 2007, The Guardian and The Observer started letting people see their old articles online.