With the support of our readers, the world’s oldest English language daily newspaper marches on into the digital age

As the history of the News Letter helps to illustrate, daily newspapers have been around for more than three centuries.

Britain’s first such title was the Daily Courant, launched in London in 1702.

This paper, the world’s oldest surviving English daily, was founded 35 years later.

Newspapers have long been said to be at risk from technological changes. They began to seem like an old fashioned format for news a century ago, when cinemas provided information on what was happening in the world, then radio.

After World War Two, television began its relentless rise in popularity.

Latterly, the internet has seemed like the next big challenge to newspapers.

But digital technology has instead complemented papers. Many people still prefer a print version of this or other newspapers, or they can get stories online, in our case at www.newsletter.co.uk.

Readers can also get app version, which is a hybrid — the printed version reproduced on a screen, where pages can easily be scrolled.

All these advances have meant that the overall audience of this newspaper has risen. Some reports on news developments in Northern Ireland are read by tens of thousands of people within a few hours of being put on our website.

Today on pages 14, 15 and 20 you can read more about bargain offers to access these various versions of News Letter (or see information below on how to subscribe online).

On page 14 we also hear from readers about the wide range of aspects of the newspaper that they love: from news to columnists to sports to features to puzzles.

Putting out trusted news content costs money.

Thank you to our faithful audience who buy us regularly, and enable us to continue to produce this historic product every day except Sunday (when we do not have a print edition but do update our website).

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A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers — and consequently the revenue we receive — we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Alistair Bushe

Editor