The Daily Mirror is the longest-running tabloid in the UK, with a varied and sometimes controversial history. Beginning life in 1903 under the auspices of Alfred Harmsworth, who at the time owned the Daily Mail, the paper has seen everything from accusations of libel to at one point becoming the world's best-selling newspaper, with a record average daily sale of over 5,000,000.
Typically holding a centre-left political view and supporting the Labour party during election time, this tabloid was originally aimed at the middle-class, until the target readership was shifted towards the working class in the 1930s in order to reach a wider audience. Its sister paper is the Sunday Mirror.
Early issues featured prominent front-page advertisements, which went a long way in helping with the running costs. This was before it was transformed into an illustrated publication on 26th January 1904, at which time it was briefly renamed the 'Daily Illustrated Mirror.'
Harmsworth believed his paper represented a fresh and unique perspective in the market, as it was intended to represent women's interest in a way no other contemporary paper did. "It is no mere bulletin of fashion," he writes in his opening statement, "but a reflection of women's interests, women's thought and women's work."
In 1988, the paper was printed in full colour for the first time, and in 1996 this led to a memorable issue which was printed entirely on blue paper, in a marketing stunt with the re-branding of Pepsi cans.
In 1999, the Daily Mirror merged with regional newspaper group Trinity, forming publishing group Trinity Mirro, and the paper continues publishing with a circulation of over 400,000.
For this newspaper, we have the following titles in, or planned for, our digital archive:
- 1903–2000 Daily Mirror.
