Reading Standard 1914-1920

The Reading Standard was considered liberal and progressive and claimed ‘50,000 readers’ in 1913 although it was more likely 16,000-18,000/week. When war was declared The Standard ceased production of midweek edition and reduced the weekly edition from 10 to 6 pages. They included a war photographic war supplement printed on a higher quality art paper which was so popular that the Standard’s circulation increased 19,000 in 1916 and was soon back to 10 pages, until fluctuations in supply reduced to 6 or 8 pages. They managed to maintain their price at 1d through good advertising revenue.

The Standard used a flat bed press up to 1923 allowing them to print good quality photographs and illustrations, unlike The Observer, which used a rotary press from 1897 and The Chronicle from 1907. It wasn’t until the mid 1920s that acceptable halftones could be printed on a rotary press.
Source: The Newspaper Press in the Town of Reading 1855-1980, A T Wyatts, University of Stirling, 1990. Location: Local Studies Library, Reading Central Library.

Permissions: Approved 6 Nov 2013, Reading Evening Post, 8 Tessa Road, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 8NS.