The FPO and I have been fascinated over last couple of days by a replica copy of the Jan 1st 1785 edition of the Daily Universal Register (later the Times)

http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/tol/archive/

also like the accompanying web piece on the city itself. In the first issue the editor under the pseudonym "Gregory Gazette" says of a newspaper's readers

One person's affections lie in the price of stocks, and in the arrival of the East and West India fleets; another's in a dreadful battle either by sea or land, in which he can enjoy the carnage, free from danger; a third delights in curious anecdotes; a fourth in scandalous reports; a fifth in horse races and jockeyship; a sixth in theatrical intelligence, and a seventh in the poet's corner ... Thus is a newspaper a magazine or toyshop, where every one has his hobby-horse

.

And a happy new year to one and all ...